z 

o 


,   RUS    PE    LA    IUHQUK  ,    29 

Assortment  uombreux  t-l 
rie  de  livres  Anglais,  Al- 
Mands.Italions.Kspagiiols 
irtugais.Langucs  dii  Nord 


\ 


SCIENTIFIC  RESULTS 


A   JOURNEY   IN   BRAZIL. 


BY  LOUIS  AGASSIZ, 


AND     HIS      TRAVELLING     COMPANIONS. 


GEOLOGY    AND    PHYSICAL    GEOGRAPHY 
OF    BRAZIL. 


BY    OH;  FRED.  HARTT,    l^c 

PROFESSOR    OF    GEOLOGY    IN    CORNELL    UNIVERSITY. 

WITH  ILLUSTRATIONS  AND  MAPS. 


BOSTON : 
FIELDS,    OS  GOOD,    &   CO. 

LONDON : 
TRUBNER  &  CO.,  8  &  60,  PATERNOSTER  ROW. 

1870. 


,\ 


fltocroft  Library 


To  PROFESSOR  LOUIS  AGASSIZ, 

DIRECTOR  OF  THE  THAYER  EXPEDITION. 

MY  DEAR  SIR  :  — 

I  have  the  honor  to  offer  you  this  volume  on  the  Physical 
Geography  and  Geology  of  Brazil  as  a  summary  of  the  scientific 
results  of  my  explorations  as  an  attache  of  the  Thayer  Expedition, 
together  with  those  of  a  second  private  expedition,  — r-  the  natural 
outgrowth  of  the  former,  —  made  to  continue  investigations  which 
I  had  been  obliged  to  leave  unfinished. 

I  take  this  opportunity  of  acknowledging  my  deep  indebtedness 
to  you  for  the  interest  you  have  taken  in  my  scientific  studies,  for 
your  constant  wise  counsel  and  advice,  and  for  a  thousand  kind 
nesses  received  at  your  hands. 

With  the  highest  consideration  and  respect,  I  have  the  honor 
to  be, 

My  dear  Sir, 

Your  former  pupil, 

CH.  FRED.  HARTT. 

CORNELL  UNIVERSITY,  ITHACA,  N.  Y., 
May  30,  1870. 


PREFATORY   NOTE. 


THIS  volume  is  the  result  of  two  journeys  made  by  myself 
in  Brazil.  The  first  was  undertaken  under  the  direction  of 
Professor  Agassiz  in  connection  with  the  Thayer  Expedition 
in  the  years  1865  and  1866.  On  this  journey  I  studied  very 
carefully  the  Geology  and  Physical  Geography  of  the  coast 
between  Rio  and  Bahia,  going  over  a  very  large  part  of  the 
ground  on  horseback  or  in  canoe.  As  a  sketch  of  the  jour 
ney  is  to  be  found  in  the  "  Journey  in  Brazil,"  it  is  not  ne 
cessary  to  repeat  it  here.  My  companion  was  Mr.  Edward 
Copeland,  of  Boston,  one  of  the  volunteer  aids  of  the  Expe 
dition,  and  I  take  pleasure  in  acknowledging  my  indebted 
ness  to  him  for  the  very  valuable  assistance  he  rendered  me. 
On  this  journey  Mr.  Copeland  and  I  made  very  large  collec 
tions  of  marine  invertebrates  and  fishes,  though  we  did  not 
neglect  to  secure  other  objects  of  natural  history.  I  hope 
that  these  collections  will  throw  much  light  on  the  fresh 
water  and  marine  animals  of  the  coast,  and,  as  they  were 
made  at  frequent  intervals  between  Bahia  and  Rio  de  Ja 
neiro,  that  they  will  prove  valuable  in  the  study  of  the 
distribution  of  these  animals.  My  studies  of  the  stone 
and  coral  reefs  and  of  the  geology  of  Brazil  proved  so  very 
attractive  to  me  that  on  the  year  following  I  returned  to 
Brazil,  and  spent  my  vacation,  several  months,  in  examining 


Vi  PREFATORY  NOTE. 

the  coast  between  Pernambuco  and  Rio,  exploring  more 
particularly  the  vicinity  of  Bahia  and  the  islands  and  coral 
reefs  of  the  Abrolhos.  I  was  aided  pecuniarily  on  this 
second  expedition  by  Mr.  John  Lockwood,  of  the  Adelphi 
Academy,  Brooklyn,  the  New  York  Association  for  the  Ad 
vancement  of  Science  and  Art,  and  the  Cooper  Institute ; 
but  my  thanks  are  especially  due  to  Miss  Chadeayne,  the 
principal  of  an  excellent  ladies'  school  in  Jersey  City,  to 
Mr.  Van  Nostrand,  of  Newark,  to  my  friend  Major  O.  C, 
James,  of  Bergen,  without  whose  generous  aid  I  should  not 
have  accomplished  my  expedition  and  brought  home  my 
voluminous  collection,  and  to  Mr.  J.  E.  Mills,  and  Mr.  R. 
L.  Dugdale,  of  New  York. 

I  wish  that  I  could  adequately  acknowledge  the  innumer 
able  kindnesses  and  attentions  I  have  received  from  Captains 
Tinklepaugh  and  Slocomb,  and  the  officers  on  the  splendid 
steamer  of  the  generous  Messrs.  Garrison  and  Allen,  and 
from  a  hundred  kind  friends  in  Brazil.  The  hospitality  with 
which  I  was  everywhere  received  in  Brazil,  and  the  assist 
ance  offered  me  wherever  I  went  in  the  prosecution  of  my 
studies  of  the  country,  have  made  me  love  the  land  of  the 
Sabia,  and  it  is  my  sincerest  wish  in  acknowledgment  of 
so  much  kindness  to  be  to  some  humble  degree  instrumental 
in  removing  false  impressions  so  current  about  Brazil,  and 
to  make  the  resources  of  the  Empire  better  known  in  Amer 
ica.  In  the  course  of  the  following  pages  I  shall  have 
frequently  opportunity  to  acknowledge  the  aid  not  only  of 
Brazilians,  but  of  foreigners  resident  in  the  country. 

This  volume  was  intended  at  first  as  a  report  to  Professor 
Agassiz  as  the  Director  of  the  Thayer  Expedition,  embra 
cing  simply  the  results  of  my  explorations  as  a  geologist 
of  that  expedition,  together  with  those  of  my  second  inde- 


PREFATORY  NOTE.  Vll 

pendent  journey,  both  reports  to  be  published  among  the 
contributions  of  the  Thayer  Expedition.  During  the  prep 
aration  of  these  reports,  and  in  consequence  of  the  delay  in 
publication,  I  have  had  the  opportunity  of  examining  more 
or  less  critically  the  works  of  the  majority  of  the  writers  on 
Brazil,  and  the  volume,  from  a  simple  report  of  my  own  in 
vestigations,  has  grown  to  a  general  work,  in  which  I  have 
incorporated  the  best  results  of  others  who  have  written  on 
the  Geology  and  Physical  Geography  of  Brazil.  I  have  to 
acknowledge  valuable  contributions  to  this  volume  from 
Messrs.  J.  A.  Allen,  Orestes  H.  St.  John,  and  Thomas  Ward, 
all  of  whom  were  employed  on  the  Thayer  Expedition.  I  am 
indebted  to  Professor  Jeffries  Wyman  for  an  interesting  com 
munication  with  reference  to  a  Botocudo  skull,  and  to  Pro 
fessor  Alpheus  Hyatt  for  his  valuable  paper  on  the  Creta 
ceous  Fossils  of  Maroim  ;  Professor  0.  C.  Marsh  has  kindly 
examined  and  described  in  the  Journal  of  Science  a  few 
reptilian  remains  I  collected  at  Bahia,  Professor  Verrill  de 
scribed  the  radiates  of  my  second  journey,  and  Mr.  S.  J.  Smith 
has  published  a  valuable  paper  on  the  Crustacea  of  the  same 
journey.  Professor  Marsh's  paper  I  have  given  almost  en 
tire.  From  Professor  Verrill's  I  have  drawn  largely,  and  I 
have  given  the  general  results  of  that  of  Mr.  Smith.  A  part 
of  the  chapter  on  the  Coral  Reefs  appeared  in  the  American 
Naturalist,  together  with  several  of  the  wood-cuts,  which 
have  been  kindly  lent  me  for  this  volume.  I  must  ex 
press  my  thanks  to  Messrs.  Putnam,  Packard,  Morse,  and 
Hyatt,  of  the  Peabody  Academy,  for  valuable  assistance  ren 
dered. 

Professor  Agassiz  has  generously  allowed  me  the  use  of 
books,  maps,  and  photographs,  and  has  assisted  me  in  vari 
ous  ways.  I  regret  exceedingly  that  his  illness  has  pre- 


yiii  PREFATORY   NOTE. 

vented  him  from  preparing  for  the  work  the  paper  on  the 
fishes  which  he  contemplated. 

In  the  recent  excellent  work  "  On  the  Highlands  of  the 
Brazil,"  by  Captain  Burton,  the  celebrated  African  traveller, 
now  English  Consul  at  Santos  in  the  Province  of  Sao  Paulo, 
the  author  uses  throughout  the  definite  article  prefixed  to 
the  name  of  the  Empire.  Burton  says,  "  I  do  not  call  the 
country  '  Brazil,-  which  she  does  not ;  nor  does  any  other 
nation  but  our  own."  *  Captain  Burton's  reasoning  does 
not  seem  to  me  quite  conclusive.  It  is  true  that  the  Portu 
guese  say  "  o  Brazil,  the  Brazil"  but  the  article  is  not 
prefixed  to  give  any  particular  definiteness  to  the  name. 
They  say  also  a  Inglaterra,  a  Franca,  o  Paraguay,  &c.,  the 
definite  article  being  applied  to  almost  all  names  of  places. 
So  we  have  in  French  le  Bresil,  la  France,  VAngleterre.  In 
Italian  the  definite  article  is  used  before  the  name  of  a 
country  when  the  whole  of  it  is  meant,  but  ordinarily  it  is 
not  employed.  In  Spanish  it  is  used  much  as  in  French. 

Since  the  Brazilians  use  the  article  before  the  names  of 
other  countries  as  well  as  their  own,  in  accordance  with  a 
custom  followed  by  other  Romance  languages,  there  would 
seem  to  be  no  better  reason  for  saying  Tlie  Brazil,  contrary 
to  English  usage,  than  "  TTie  France"  because  the  French 
do.  It  is  true  that  many  English  writers  on  Brazil  have  used 
the  article,  but  the  majority  have  not,  and  no  one  but  Bur 
ton  uses  it  to-day.  "  The  Brazils"  as  that  author  has  re 
marked,  is  an  anachronism  occasionally  seen,  but  only 
proper  between  the  years  1572  and  1576,  when  the  country 
was  divided  into  two  governments.  It  is  more  high-sound 
ing  than  the  ordinary  form,  and  so  probably  remains  in  use. 
In  the  North  European  languages,  German,  Hollandish, 

*  Vol.  I.  p.  3,  note. 


PREFATORY  NOTE.  IX 

Danish,  or  Swedish,  the  name  is  derived  from  the  Latin  form 
Brasilia;  *  in  Danish  and  German,  Brasilien.  In  like  man 
ner  we  have  the  German  Italien,  Sicillen,  &c.  In  none  of 
these  languages  is  the  article  used.  I  have  followed  in  this 
work  the  common  usage,  and  have  omitted  the  article. 

The  use  of  the  article  before  the  names  of  places  in  Brazil 
is  very  puzzling,  and  foreigners  writing  on  the  country  are 
sure  to  commit  blunders.  The  names  of  the  provinces  are 
especially  difficult.  Several  of  them  are  derived  from  rivers, 
as  Amazonas,  Para,  Parahyba,  &c.,  and  these  take  the  article 
in  Portuguese,  as  do  Ceara,  AlagSas  (plural),  Bahia,  and 
Espirito  Santo  ;  but  those  bearing  the  names  of  saints,  to 
gether  with  Pernambuco,  Sergipe,  Minas  Geraes,  Matto 
Grosso,  and  Goyaz,  do  not.  The  same  difficulty  is  met  with 
in  the  names  of  rivers,  serras,  &c.,  and  it  is  impossible  to 
give  a  general  rule  to  guide  one  in  writing  them.  Most 
writers  seem  to  be  impressed  with  the  idea  that  Portuguese 
is  only  bad  Spanish,  and  that  it  will  do  just  as  well  to  write 
Brazilian  names  in  the  Spanish  form  ;  so  we  find  some  of 
our  best  authors  on  Brazil  using  San  Francisco  for  Sao 
Francisco.  The  only  safe  way  seems  to  be  to  give  geogra 
phical  names  exactly  as  used  by  the  Brazilians  themselves. 

Brazil,  in  its  climate,  people,  and  productions  of  all  kinds, 
was  at  the  time  of  its  discovery  totally  different  from  Europe. 
The  European  colonists  in  Brazil  therefore  had  no  names  to 
give  to  the  things  they  saw  about  them.  Such  was  not  the 
case  in  North  America,  where  the  early  explorers  found 
animals  and  plants  resembling  those  of  Europe,  and  they 
recognized  the  bear,  the  wolf,  the  codfish,  the  herring,  the 
oak,  &c.,  &c.  But  in  Brazil  all  was  new,  and  the  euphoni- 

*  Hakluyt  used  the  form  Brasilia,  and  it  is  to  be  found  in  the  works  of  other 
old  English  wriiers. 


X  PEEFATORY  NOTE. 

ous  indigenous  names  were  adopted  and  incorporated,  and 
to-day  the  Portuguese  of  Brazil  is  full  of  them,  and  places, 
too,  bear  to  a  very  large  extent  their  Indian  names.  Par  and 
wide,  up  and  down  the  coast,  and  through  the  country,  was 
found  distributed  the  great  nation  of  the  Tupfs,  speaking 
everywhere  the  same  general  language,  and  it  is  from  this 
language,  now  spoken  over  a  large  part  of  Brazil,  that  these 
names  were  taken.  These  names  have  been  written  with 
the  Portuguese  pronunciation,  and  have  often  been  much 
corrupted,  so  that  their  orthography  varies  very  much. 
Foreigners  murder  them  fearfully.  Among  the  writers  on 
Brazil  Bates  and  Burton  are  perhaps  the  most  accurate  in 
their  use  of  Portuguese  and  Tupi  names.  In  this  work  I 
have  followed  the  best  authorities,  and  I  have  taken  particu 
lar  pains  to  insure  correctness  in  the  geographical  names  ; 
but  since  there  is  no  standard  of  orthography  for  these 
names  even  in  Brazil,  and  since  one  is  frequently  obliged  to 
depend  on  an  ignorant  guide  for  the  name  of  a  place  or 
an  object,  absolute  uniformity  and  accuracy  are  out  of  the 
question. 

In  looking  up  the  derivation  of  Brazilian  geographical 
names,  I  was  led  into  a  study  of  the  word  "  Brazil,"  but  I 
soon  found  that  Humboldt  had  preceded  me,  and  I  am  able 
to  add  little  to  what  he  has  said  on  the  subject.  Since  there 
are  afloat  so  many  incorrect  ideas  concerning  the  deriva 
tion  of  the  name,  it  seems  not  unadvisable  to  give  here  in 
brief  the  result  of  Humboldt's  researches.* 

According  to  Humboldt  the  name,  under  the  various  forms 
of  Bracie,  Brazil,  BerzilJ  appears  on  Italian  maps  from 

*  Gc'ographie  du  nouveau  Continent,  Tom.  II.  p.  214,  to  which  the  reader  is 
referred  for  the  details  of  the  discussion. 

t  Among  the  many  curious  old  forms  of  the  name  Brazil  may  be  mentioned 


PREFATORY  NOTE.  II 

1351  to  1459,  applied  to  one  or  more  of  the  islands  of  the 
Agores,  and  more  particularly  to  a  point  of  the  island  of 
Terceira,  which  still  bears  the  name. 

For  three  centuries  before  the  discovery  of  the  route  to 
the  Indies  around  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  there  was  known 
in  Europe  a  dye-wood  called  bresill,  brasilly,  bresilji,  braxi- 
lis  or  braslle,  which  appears  to  have  been  derived  from  one 
or  more  East  Indian  species  of  Ccesalpina  and  Pterocarpus. 

As  to  how  this  dye-wood  came  to  bear  the  name  of  Brazil 
I  know  not,  and  I  fear  that  any  attempts  to  derive  it  from 
Sanskrit  or  other  roots  will  lead  to  nothing  satisfactory.* 
Anghiera  speaks  of  the  occurrence  of  Brazil  wood  in  Haiti, 
which  was  known  long  before  the  discovery  of  Brazil. 
Grinoeus  speaks  in  1499  of  the  Brazil-wood  seen  at  Paria 
(Payra). 

Humboldt  says  :  "  In  proportion  as  discoveries  extended 
themselves  to  the  south  of  Cape  Santa  Augustinho,  especially 
after  Pedro  Alvarez  Cabral,  in  May,  1500,  had  taken  posses 
sion  of  the  Terra  de  Santa  Cruz,  the  commerce  in  the  red 
wood  of  Continental  America  became  more  active.  On  the 
fourth  expedition  of  Vespucius,  in  which  one  of  the  ships 
was  lost  on  the  shoals  around  Fernando  Noronha,  a  cargo 
of  Brazil-wood  was  taken  in  near  the  Bahia.  All  the  world 

that  of  Presill,  found  in  fln  ancient  publication,  described  by  Humboldt  in  his 
Geographic  du  nouveau  Continent,  Tome  V.  p.  239,  entitled  Cop! a  der  Newen 
Zeytuncj  auss  Presillig  Latidt. 

*  Sec  Humboldt,  op.  cit.  Tome  II.  p.  222.  It  is  always  unsafe  to  proceed 
m  the  investigation  of  the  etymological  derivation  of  proper  names,  unless  one 
has  historical  evidence  of  some  sort  to  guide  him. 

t  Decade  I.  Liv.  4.  p,  11,  quoted  by  Humboldt.  Anghiera  says  that  there 
were  found  at  Haiti  "  sylvas  immensas,  quaj  arbores  nullas  nutriebant  alias 
prsctaqnam  coccineas  quarum  lignum  mercatores  Itali  verzlnum,  Hispani  bra- 
silum  appellant." 


Xii  PREFATORY   NOTE. 

knows  that  little  by  little,  in  the  first  half  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  this  same  abundance  of  dye-wood  has  caused  the 
name  of  Terra  de  Santa  Cruz,  given  by  Cabral,  to  be  changed 
into  the  Terra  de  Brasil, '  changement  inspir£  par  le  de"mon, 
dit  Fhistoriographe  Barros,  car  le  vil  bois  qui  teint  le  drap 
en  rouge  ne  vant  pas  le  sang  versd  pour  notre  salut.'  So 
from  the  Asiatic  Archipelago  the  name  Brasil  has  passed 
to  a  cape  of  the  island  of  Terceira,  and  then  to  the  southern 
shores  of  the  New  Continent." 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER    I. 

THE   PROVINCE   OP   RIO   DE   JANEIRO. 

PAGE 

The  Serra  do  Mar.  —  The  Serra  da  Mantiqueira,  and  the  Pico  do  Itatiaiossii.  — 
The  Rio  Parahyba  do  Sul  and  its  Tributaries.  —  Description  of  the  Bay  of 
Rio,  its  Islands,  Tides,  &c.  —  The  Sugar-Loaf.  —  The  Corcovado.  —  The 
Gneiss  of  Rio.  —  The  Organ  Mountains.  —  Geological  Observations  along 
the  Cantagallo  Railroad. —  Drift  Phenomena  at  Rio,  Tijuca,  and  on  the  Dom 
Pedro  II.  Railroad.  —  Decomposition  of  Gneiss  in  situ  and  its  Effect  on  the 
Forms  of  the  Hills.  —  Recent  Rise  of  the  Coast.  —  The  Coast  between  Rio  and 
Cape  Frio,  its  Lakes,  Salines,  &c.  —  Cape  Frio.  —  Os  Buzios.  —  Islands  of 
Santa  Anna.  —  Frade  de  Macahe.  —  Campos  dos  Goitacazes,  their  Lagoons, 
Canal,  &c.  —  Rio  Parahyba.  —  Sao  Joao  da  Barra.  —  Sugar  Plantations.  — 
City  of  Campos.  —  The  Rio  Muriahe".  —  Tertiary  Beds.  —  Sugar  Fazendas.  — 
Sao  Fidelis.  —  The  Gold-Mines  of  Cantagallo.  —  Geological  Notes  on  the 
Country  between  Sao  Fidelis  and  Bom  Jesus.  —  The  Rio  Itabapuana.  —  The 
Serra  d  Itabapuana. —  The  Garrafao.  —  Barra  do  Itabapuana  ...  1 

CHAPTER    II. 

PROVINCE   OP  ESPIRITO   SANTO. 

Barreiras  do  Sirf.  —  Itapemerim.  —  Coast  between  Itape'merim  and  Benevente. 

—  Benevente.  —  Guarapary  ;  Consolidated  Beach,  Corals,  &c.  —  Rio  Jecii. — 
Bay  of  Espirito  Santo.  —  Nossa  Senhora  da  Penha.  —  Victoria.  —  Decompo 
sition  of  Gneiss  and  Formation  of  Boulders  of  Decomposition.  —  Recent  Rise 
of  the  Coast.  —  Corals,  &c.  of  the  Bay  of  Victoria.  —  Rio  Santa  Maria.  — 
German  Colonies.  —  Fisheries.  —  Sand  Plains.  —  Tertiary  Plain  at  Carapina. 

—  Mestre  Alvaro.  —  Serra.  —  Nova  Almeida.  —  Rio  Reis  Magos.  —  Santa 
Cruz.  —  Basin  of  the  Rio  Doce.  —  Description  of  the  River.  —  Guandii  ;  its 
Colony  and  Agricultural  Resources.  —  Porto  de  Souza.  —  Geology  of  Vicin 
ity.  —  Luxuriance  of  Vegetation  on  the  Doce.  —  Woods.  —  Game.  —  Fran- 
cylvania.  —  Climate  of  the  Doce. — Linhares.  —  Lagoa  Juparanaa. —  The 
Future  of  the  Doce.  —  American  Colonists.  —  Salt  Trade.  —  Barra  Secca.  — 
Sea-Turtles.  —  Consolidated  Beaches  and  the  Mode  of  their  Formation.  — 
Character  of  Coast  between  the  Rivers  Doce  and  Sao  Matheos.  —  Rio  Sao 
Matheos  described.  —  Geological  Features.  —  Fertility  of  its  Lands.  —  Cocoa- 
Palms  and  their  Distribution.  —  City  of   Sao  Matheos.  —  Rio  Itahunas.  — 
Cliffs  of  Os  Lencoes.  —  Coast  between  Itahunas  and  Rio  Mucury  .        .        .56 


XIV  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER    III. 

PROVINCE   OP   MINAS   GERAES. THE   MUCURY   AND   JEQUITINHONHA 

BASINS. 

The  Basin  of  the  Mucury.  —  Porto  Alegre.  —  Description  of  the  River  below 
Santa  Clara.  —  Luxuriance  of  Forest  Vegetation.  —  Santa  Clara.  —  Minas 
Geraes  a  Land-locked  Province.  —  Want  of  Roads.  — The  Philadelphia  Road 
and  the  Mucury  Colonies.  —  Difference  in  Topography  and  Soils  between 
the  Tertiary  and  Gneiss  Lands  west  of  Santa  Clara.  —  Urucii,  its  Dutch  Col 
ony,  Soils,  Climate,  &c.  —  Philadelphia  and  its  German  Colonies.  —  Great 
Fertility  of  the  Mucury  Basin.  —  Character  of  Country  between  Philadel 
phia  and  the  Head-waters  of  the  Mucury.  —  The  Basin  of  the  Jequitinhonha. 
—  The  Rio  Pardo.  —  General  Geological  Structure  of  the  Jequitinhonha- 
Pardo  Basin.  —  The  Head- waters  of  the  Setubal,  their  Geological  Features 
and  Catinga  Forests.  —  Geological  Excursion  from  the  Fazenda  de  Santa 
Barbara  to  Alto  dos  Bois.  —  Difficulty  of  geologizing  in  Brazil.  —  The  Bra 
zilian  Campos.  —  The  Chapadas  between  Itinga  and  Calhao. — The  great 
Calhao- Arassuahy  Valley.  —  Magnificent  View  over  the  Valley  from  the 
Chapada  at  Agua  da  Nova.  —  Calhao  and  the  Geology  of  its  Vicinity.  —  De 
scription  of  the  Country  between  Calhao  and  Sucuriu.  —  The  Chapadas.  — 
Minas  Novas,  its  Geology,  Gold-Mines,  &c. —  Occurrence  of  Gold  in  Drift. — 
Gold-Mines  of  the  Arraial  da  Chapada  ;  their  former  Richness  :  not  yet 
worked  out.  —  Decomposition  of  Clay  Slates  in  the  Minas  Novas  Region.  — 
The  Rio  Arassuahy.  —  The  Rio  Jequitinhonha  from  its  Confluence  with  the 
Arassuahy  to  the  Sea  described  :  its  Geology,  Vegetation,  Commerce.  — 
The  Salto  Grande 125 


CHAPTER    IV. 

THE   ISLANDS   AND   CORAL   REEFS   OF   THE   ABROLHOS. 

The  Geology  of  the  Abrolhos.  —  Trap-bed,  Fossil  Plants,  &c.  —  Land  Fauna 
and  Flora;  Spiders,  Lizards,  and  Sea-Birds.  —  The  Cemetery  of  the  Frigate- 
Birds.  —  The  Whale  and  Garoupa  Fisheries.  —  Importance  of  these  Fisheries. 
—  The  mythical  Brazilian  Reef.  —  The  Coral  Reefs  and  Consolidated  Beaches 
confounded  by  Travellers  and  Writers.  —  The  Author's  Discovery  of  the 
Porto  Seguran  Coral  Reef.  —  Coral-building  Corals  found  almost  wholly  to 
the  north  of  Cape  Frio.  —  The  Fringing  Reef  of  Santa  Barbara  ;  its  Struc 
ture  and  Life.  —  Corals  found  on  the  Reef.  —  Star-fishes,  Ophiurans,  &c.  — 
Resemblance  between  the  Echinoderms  of  the  Abrolhos  and  West  Indies.  — 
The  ChapeirCes. —  The  Parcel  dos  Abrolhos  ;  its  Appearance  ;  forms  a  seri 
ous  Obstacle  to  Navigation.  —  Safe  Canal  west  of  the  Islands.  —  The  Parcel 
dos  Parades. —  The  Recife  do  Lixo.  —  Its  great  Extent.  —  The  Submerged 
Border  and  its  Coral  Growth.  —  The  Coral  Fauna  of  Brazil.  —  The  Mille- 
pores  and  their  Stinging  Properties.  —  The  Reefs  of  Timbebas,  Itacolumf, 
Porto  Seguro,  Santa  Cruz,  Camamu,  Bahia,  Maceio,  and  Pernambuco.  — 
The  Roccas  .  174 


CONTENTS.  XV 


CHAPTER    V. 

PROVINCE   OP    BAHIA.  —  COAST   SOUTH   OF   SAO   SALVADOR. 

Tne  Tertiary  Lands  between  the  Rivers  Mucury  and  Peruhype  ;  their  Vegeta 
tion,  &c.  —  Colonia  Leopoldina  and  its  Coffee  Plantations.  —  Villa  Vicosa.  — 
The  Canal  joining  the  Rivers  Peruhype  and  Caravellas. —  Formation  of 
Beaches  and  Beach  Ridges.  —  Coast  between  Caravellas  and  Porto  Seguro.  — 
Monte  Pascoal.  —  Porto  Seguro  and  its  Recife,  or  Consolidated  Beach.  — 
Santa  Cruz  and  its  Reef.  —  Coast  northward  to  the  Jequitinhonha  ;  the  La 
goa  do  Braco,  Campos,  &c.  —  The  Canal  Po-assu  and  the  Rib  da  Salsa.  — 
Mangrove  Swamps  between  the  Jequitinhonha  and  Pardo.  —  Cannavieiras 
—  The  Salt  Trade  of  the  Jequitinhonha.  —  Description  of  the  lower  Part  of 
the  Rio  Pardo  ;  Cacao  Plantations,  &c.  —  Coast  northward  to  Ilhe'os.  — 
Prince  Neuwied's  Description  of  the  Country  between  Ilhe'os  and  Con- 
quista,  Possoes,  and  Cachoeira  ;  the  Forests,  Campos,  Social  Plants.  &c.  — 
Ilheos.  —  Rio  and  Lagoa  Itahype.  —  Dead  Coral  Banks.  —  Rio  das  Contas.  — 
Bay  of  Camamii.  —  Turva  Deposits.  —  Villa  de  Camamu.  —  Coast  northward 
to  the  Bahia  de  Todos  or  Santos.  —  The  Bay  of  All  Saints  described.  —  Ilha 
Itaparica. — Rio  Jaguaripe  and  Nazareth. —  Rio  Paraguassu.  —  Description 
of  River  below  Cachoeira.  —  The  Tram-road.  —  Sant'  Amaro  and  the  Agri 
cultural  Institute 215 


CHAPTER    VI. 

THE   SAO   FRANCISCO    BASIN. 

The  Explorations  of  Halfeld,  Liais,  St.  John,  Allen,  Ward,  Burton,  &c.  —  Gen 
eral  Shape  of  the  Basin.  —  Its  uniform  Width.  —  The  Sao  Francisco  Valley 
hollowed  out  of  a  Series  of  horizontal  Beds  of  Limestone  and  Sandstone.  — 
The  Chapadas. —  The  so-called  "  Serra"  separating  the  Sao  Francisco  from 
the  Tocantins  Basin  an  irregular  Strip  or  Table-land  of  Sandstone.  —  The 
Serras  of  Araripe  and  Dous  Irmaos.  —  Table-topped  Hills  in  the  Valley  of 
the  Sao  Francisco;  Outliers  of  the  Chapadas.  —  Doubts  about  the  Age  of  the 
Sandstones  and  Limestones.  —  Limestones  of  the  Rio  das  Velhas.  —  Remains 
of  Extinct  Quadrupeds  in  Brazil,  spoken  of  by  Cazal,  Spix  and  Martins,  &c. 
—  Claussen's  Discoveries  in  the  Caves  at  Curvelo.  —  Dr.  Lund's  exhaustive 
Researches  at  Lagoa  Santa.  —  Caves  described ;  their  Number,  Extent.  Sta 
lactites  and  Deposits  of  Bones  in  Saltpetre  Earth.  —  Immense  Quantities  of 
small  Bones  brought  in  by  Owls,  &c.  —  Large  Number  of  Fossil  Animals  dis 
covered  by  Lund.  —  Former  Existence  of  Megatheria,  Mylodons,  Mastodons, 
immense  Armadillos  and  Cats,  Horses,  &c.,  in  Brazil.  —  Remains  of  a  Race 
of  Man  of  high  Antiquity.  —  Reinhardt's  Generalizations.  —  The  Rio  de  Sao 
Francisco  of  the  Sixteenth  Class  among  the  Rivers  of  the  World,  but  third 
in  Rank  in  Brazil.  —  General  Description  of  the  Stream. — Its  Affluents, 
the  Rios  Para,  Paraopeba,  and  Das  Velhas.  —  The  Rio  das  Velhas  alone 
capable  of  being  made  navigable  for  Steamers.  —  The  Siio  Francisco  naviga 
ble  with  but  few  Interruptions  for  two  hundred  and  sixty-four  Leagues  below 


XVI  CONTENTS. 

the  Rio  das  Velhas.  —  Cost  of  removing  Obstructions.  —  Proposed  Railway 
from  Joazeiro  to  Piranhas.  —  Fertility  of  Low  Lands  of  Sao  Francisco  Val 
ley.  —  Liais's  Picture  of  the  Campos .  .274 


CHAPTER   VII. 

THE  PROVINCE  OF  BAHIA,  INTERIOR. 

Journeys  of  Spix  and  Martius,  Nicolay  and  Lacerda,  Allen,  and  other  Explor 
ers.  —  Geological  and  Physical  Features  of  Country  between  Malhada  and 
Cachoeira,  described  by  Von  Martius.  —  Sandstones.  —  Remains  of  Masto 
dons  found  near  Villa  do  Rio  de  Contas.  —  Immense  Copper  Boulder  from 
Cachoeira.  —  Rev.  Mr.  Nicolay's  Report  of  Journey  from  Cachoeira  to  the 
Chapada  Diamantina.  —  Occurrence  of  Diamonds  in  Sandstones.  —  Lime 
stones.  —  Sterile  Plains.  —  Diamantiferous  Sands  of  the  Chapada.  —  The 
Diamond  Mines  of  Sincora  and  Lencoes.  —  Annual  Yield  of  the  Provinces  in 
Diamonds.  —  Mr.  Allen's  Report  of  a  Journey  from  Chique-Chique,  via 
Jacobina  to  Cachoeira.  —  Country  between  Cinque -Chique  and  Jacobina  an 
immense  Limestone  Plain.  —  The  Chapada  at  Jacobina  a  detached  flat- 
topped  Mass  of  Sandstone. —  Gneiss  Hills.  —  "  Lake  Plain,"  east  of  Jaco 
bina.  —  Knobs.  —  Potholes,  probably  of  Glacial  Origin.  —  Eastern  Sandstone 
Plain.  —  Climate,  Vegetation,  &c.  of  Route.  —  Difference  in  Topography 
between  Gneiss  Regions  of  Bahia  and  the  Mucury  described  and  accounted 
for. — Former  greater  Extension  of  Forests.  —  Von  Martius's  Description 
of  the  Country  between  Cachoeira  and  Joazeiro.  —  Country  near  Feira  da 
Conceicao.  —  Serra  do  Rio  Peixe.  —  Rio  Itapicuru.  —  Want  of  Rain  at 
Queimados.  —  Serra  de  Tiuba.  —  Tanques  and  Fossil  Bones  near  Coche 
d' Agua,  Barriga  Molle,  and  Neighborhood.  —  Monte  Santo.  —  The  Great 
Meteorolite  of  Bemdego.  —  Rock  Inscriptions.  —  Villa  Nova  da  Rainha.  — 
Joazeiro  to  be  the  Terminus  of  Bahia  and  Sao  Francisco  Railroad. —  Rio  de 
Salitre.  —  Salt  Licks.  —  Mr.  Allen's  Note  on  the  Salt  of  the  Sao  Francisco 
Valley.  —  Saltpetre.  —  Geology  of  Country  between  Carunhauha  and  Urubu. 
—  Change  in  Geological  Structure,  Climate,  Vegetation,  &c.,  below  Urubu  .  294 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

PROVINCE    OF     BAHIA,    GEOLOGY    OF    THE    VICINITY    OF     SAO    SALVADOR 
AND    THE    B\HIA    AND    SAO    FRANCISCO    RAILROAD. 

Topography  of  the  Vicinity  of  Sao  Salvador  da  Bahia.  —  The  Upper  and 
Lower  Cities.  —  The  Population,  &c.  —  The  Harbor.  —  The  Commerce  of 
the  City  and  Province.  —  The  Climate,  &c.  —  The  Bahia  Steam  Navigation 
Company.  —  The  Bahia  and  Sao  Francisco  Railroad.  —  The  Paraguassu 
Steam  Tram-road.  —  The  Gneiss  of  Bahia.  —  Decomposition. — Drift  De 
posits.  —  Consolidation  of  Beaches.  —  Stone  Reef  at  Rio  Vermelho.  — 
Blown  Sands  covering  the  Drift  of  the  Hills.  —  Mr.  Allport's  Description  of 
the  Cretaceous  Beds  of  Monserrate  and  Platafonna.  —  Fossil  Fishes,  Croco- 


CONTENTS.  XVli 

diles,  &c.  —  Description  of  several  Species  of  Fossil  Mollusks.  —  Cretaceous 
Beds  of  Plataforma  and  Vicinity.  —  Prof.  Marsh's  Notice  of  the  Reptilian 
Remains.  —  Fossil  Fishes  at  Agua  Comprida.  —  Gneiss  at  the  Rio  Johannes. 
—  Tuboleiros  and  Sand  Plains  of  Camassari.  —  Peculiarities  of  the  Topog 
raphy  of  the  Tertiary  Hills.  —  Tabatinga  Clay.  —  Sand  Plains  and  Ta- 
boleiros  of  the  Imbupahy.  —  Peat-Bog.  —  Drift.  —  Diamond-washings  at 
Pitanga.  —  Cretaceous  Strata  at  Pojuca. —  Piassabas.  —  Campos  of  Ala- 
goiuhas.  —  Tertiary  Hills.  —  Character  of  Vegetation 333 


CHAPTER    IX. 

THE   PROVINCES   OF   SERGIPE   AND   ALAGOAS,    AND    THE   RIVER   SAO 
FRANCISCO    BELOW    THE    FALLS. 

The  Province  of  Sergipe.  —  Its  Division  into  Mattas  and  Agre&tes.  —  The  Rio 
Real.  —  L'stancia;  New  Red  Sandstone,  Sugar  Plantations,  &c.  —  Sand 
Dunes. — The  Rio  Vasabarris.  —  The  Rio  Cotinguiba.  —  Aracaju. — Cre 
taceous  Beds  with  Inocerami  at  Sapucahy.  —  Marolm.  —  Cretaceous  Lime 
stone  with  Ammonites.  — ''  Fossil  Turtles."  —  Sugar  Plantations.  —  Messrs. 
Schramm  and  Company.  —  The  Bar  of  the  Sao  Francisco.  —  Sand  Dunes 
of  the  Pontal.  —  Character  of  the  River  below  Penedo. —  Aracare\  —  Villa 
Nova  and  its  Cretaceous  Sandstones.  —  The  City  of  Penedo  and  its  Geology. 

—  Its  Commerce  and  Fair.  —  Notes  on  the  Piranha  and  its  Habits.  —  Propria. 

—  Morro  do  Chaves  and  Cretaceous  Fossils.  —  Traipu.  —  Iron  Ore.  —  Cam 
pos,  Vegetation,   Cactuses,   &c.  —  Pao  de   Assucar.  —  Cattle    Fazendas.  — 
Piranhas.  —  County  flat  and  covered  by  Boulders.  —  The  River  Valley  a 
Narrow  Gorge  in  a  Gneiss  Plain.  —  The  Falls  of  Paulo  Affonso.  —  Halfeld's 
Description.  —  Liais's    Description. —  Comparison   between   Paulo   Affonso 
and  Niagara.  —  Mastodon  Remains  from  near  the  Falls.  —  Climate  of  the 
Sao  Francisco  below  the   Falls.  —  Steam   Navigation.  —  Character  of  the 
Coast  of  the  Province  of  Alagoas,  South  of  Maceio.  —  The  Lagoas. —  The 
City  of  Maceio  and  the  Geology  of  its  Vicinity.  —  Tertiary  Beds.  —  Harbor 
and  Reefs  ....  .        .  ,        .  3', 


CHAPTER    X. 

PROVINCE    OF    PERNAMBUCO. 

The  Limits,  Area,  &c.  of  the  Province.  —  Its  Topography,  Geology,  Climate, 
Soils,  &c.  —  The  Rivers.  —  Productions  of  the  Province.  —  The  City  of  Per- 
nambuco  or  Recife —  Derivation  of  these  Name«.  —  Situation  of  the  City. — 
The  Stone  Reef.  —  The  Port  formed  by  it.  —  Shallowness  of  Water  along  this 
part  of  the  Coast.  —  Pernambuco  a  Calling  Station  for  Foreign  Shipping.  — 
The  Pernambuco  and  Sao  Francisco  Railroad.  —  Table  of  Heights  along  the 
Line. — Island  of  Itamaraca.  —  Fossiliferous  Limestones.  —  Fertility  of  the 
Island,  Cocoa-Palm  Groves,  &c.  —  Fernando  de  Noronha.  —  Darwin's  De 
scription  of  the  Geology  of  the  Island.  —  Its  Dryuess  and  Sterility  .  .  427 


XViii  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER    XL 

THE   PROVINCE   OF   PARAHYBA   DO   NORTE. 

Limits  of  the  Province.  —  The  Serra  or  Plateau  of  the  Cairir/s  Velhos.  —  The 
Climate,  Production*,  &c.  of  the  Province. —  Fertile  Lands  found  only  along 
the  Coast.  —  The  Rio  Parahyba  do  Norte,  its  Navigability.  —  The  City  of 
Purahyba. — The  Consolidated  Beach  at  the  Mouth  of  the  River. —  The 
River  and  Town  of  Marnanguape.  —  The  Geology  of  the  Vicinity  of  Para 
hyba.  —  Cretaceous  Limestone  with  Fossils.  —  Observations  of  Professor 
Agassizand  Mr.  Williams.  —  Mr.  Williams' s  Observations  on  the  Geology  of 
the  Country  between  Parahyba  and  the  Gold-Mines  of  Pianco.  —  Mode  of 
Occurrence  of  the  Gold.  — "  The  Tasso  Brazilian  Gold-Mining  Company 
(Limited)" 440 

CHAPTER    XII. 

THE    PROVINCE    OF    RIO    GRANDE   DO    NORTE. 

Limits  of  the  Province,  its  Position,  Mountain,  and  River  Systems,  &c.  —  The 
Rio  Piranhas.  —  Vegetation.  —  Productions.  —  The  Carnahuba  Palm  and  its 
Uses.  —  Cochineal.  —  Cattle.  —  Climate.  —  Natal.  —  Geology  of  the  Province  451 

CHAPTER    XIII. 

THE   PROVINCE   OF   CEARA. 

Geographical  Position  and  Limits  of  the  Province.  —  The  Serra  da  Ybiapaba. 

—  Its  Topography  and   Geological  Structure.  —  Serra  de  Araripe.  — River 
Basins. —  General   Sketch  of  the   Geology  of  the   Province.  —  Climate. — 
Character  of  the  Soil.  —  Productions.  —  City  of  Fortaleza  —  Population  of 
the  Province.  —  Gardner's  Sketch  of  the  Geology  of  Ceara.  —  Character  of 
Country   in   the  Vicinity   of  Aracaty. —  Description   of  Country  between 
Aracaty  and  Ico.  —  Serra  de  Pcreira.  —  Villa  do  Ico  and  Vicinity.  —  Country 
between  Ico  and  Crato.  —  Gold  Washings.  —  Cnito.  — Serra  de  Araripe. — 
Villa  da  Barra  do  Jardim.  —  Description  of  Fossil  Fish  Locality.  —  The  Fishes 
noticed  by  Spix  and  Martins  and  Others,  and  described  by  Professor  Agassiz. 

—  Glacial  Phenomena  of  Vicinity  of  Fortaleza  spoken  of  by  Professor  Agassiz. 

—  Mammalian  Remains.  —  Minerals.  —  Meteorolites 456 

CHAPTER    XIV. 

PROVINCE    OF    PIAUHY. 

Geographical  Position,  Limits,  &c.,  of  the  Province  — The  Rio  Parnahyba 
and  its  Tributaries.  —  Description  of  its  Basin.  —  General  Geological  Struc 
ture  and  Topography  of  the  Province.  —  Table-topped  Hills  of  Sandstone. — 


CONTENTS.  XIX 

The  Serra  dos  Dous  IramSos  and  its  Structure.  —  Discussion  of  Gardner's 
Observations  on  the  Geology  of  Piauhy  and  Ceara.  —  Gardner  mistaken  in 
referring  the  great  Sandstone  Sheet  to  the  Cretaceous.  —  Sandstones  prob 
ably  Tertiary. — Their  great  Extension  over  Brazil.  —  Distribution  of  the 
Cretaceous  Beds  in  Brazil. —  Climate  of  Piauhy.  —  The  Campos  Mimosos 
and  the  Campos  Agrestes.  —  Peculiarities  of  their  Vegetation.  —  Productions 
of  the  Province,  Population,  &c 473 


CHAPTER    XV. 

THE   PROVINCES    OF    MARANHAO,    PARA,    AND    AMAZON  AS. 

Sandstones  of  the  Coast  of  Maranhao.  —  The  Interior  composed  of  Metamor- 
phic  Rocks.  —  Gold-Mines  of  Turi  and  Maracassume. —  Climate  of  the  Prov 
ince.  —  Rains.  —  Cities  of  Maranhao,  Caxias,  &c.  —  Pororoca  or  Bore  at  the 
Mouth  of  the  River  Mearim.  —  Professor  Agassiz's  Sketch  of  the  Geology 
of  the  Amazonian  Valley.  —  His  Theory  of  the  Mode  of  Deposition  of  the 
Amazonian  Beds.  —  Discussion  of  this  Question.  —  Cretaceous  Rocks  in  the 
Amazonian  Valley 484 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

PROVINCES    OF    GOYAZ    AND    MATTO    GROSSO. 

The  Geographical  Position  of  the  Province  of  Goyaz.  —  The  Chapada  da  Man- 
gabeira.  —  Geology  of  the  Vicinity  of  Natividade.  —  Gold- Washings  of  the 
Serra  da  Natividade,  the  Arraial  da  Chapada,  and  the  Arraial  da  Conceicao. 
—  Structure  of  the  Serra  at  the  Town  of  Arrayas.  —  The  Serra  Genii.  — 
Subterranean  Streams.  —  Western  and  Southern  Goyaz  composed  of  Meta- 
morphic  Rocks.  —  Distribution  of  Gneissose  and  Granite  Rocks  in  Western 
Brazil.  — The  Montes  Pyreneos  and  their  Height.  —  The  Rio  Araguaya  and 
its  Navigation.  —  Dr.  Couto  de  Magalhaes.  —  Ilha  do  Bananal.  —  Note  on 
Piranhas.  —  Gold,  Diamonds,  Iron,  and  Chrome  Ores.  —  Climate,  Forests, 
Population,  &c.  —  The  Western  Part  of  the  Plateau  of  Brazil  composed  of 
undisturbed  Beds  of  Sandstone,  &c.  —  The  Amazonas-Paraguay  Water-shed 
a  Plain  without  Serras  ....  496 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

PROVINCES   OF   SAO   PAULO,    PARANA,    SANTA   CATIIARINA,    AND    RIO 
GRANDE    DO    SUL. 

The  Serra  do  Mar  of  Sao  Paulo  a  Plateau.  —  Its  Character. —  Drainage  in  the 
Provinces  of  Sao  Paulo  and  Parana  to  the  Westward.  —  Eastward-flowing 
Streams  of  no  Importance  —  The  Sao  Paulo  Railroad.  —  Description  of  the 


XX  CONTENTS. 

Country,  along  the  Railway  between  Santos  and  Sao  Paulo  by  Major  0.  C. 
James.  —  Geology  of  Vicinity  of  Sao  Paulo.  —  Mawe's  Description  of  the 
Gold-Mines  of  Jaragua,  and  the  Method  of  extracting  the  Gold. —  Country 
westward  to  Campinas.  —  Iron-Mines  at  Ypanema.  —  Serra  Arassoiava  or 
Guaraooiava.  —  Climate,  Products,  &c.  of  the  Province  of  Sao  Paulo.  — 
General  Topographical  Features  of  the  Province  of  Parana,  its  Climate, 
Productions,  &c.  —  Matte  or  Paraguayan  Tea.  —  Tea-Planting  in  Brazil.  — 
Rivers.  —  Colonies.  —  Paranagua. —  Coal  Basin  on  the  Rio  Tuberao  in  the 
Province  of  Santa  Catharina.  —  General  Description  of  the  Physical  Features 
of  the  Province  and  that  of  Rio  Grande  do  Sul.  —  History  of  the  Coal-Mines 
of  Brazil  — Observations  of  Perigot,  Bouleich,  Avt5-Lallemant,  Plant,  &c. — 
Description  of  the  Coal-Fields  of  the  River  Jaguarao.  —  Engineer  McGinty's 
Report  on  the  Candiota  Coal.  —  Coal  Basin  on  Rio  Sao  Sepe. —  Basin  near 
Sao  Jeronymo , 505 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 

THE   GOLD-MINES   OP   BRAZIL. 

Geological  Distribution  of  Gold  in  Brazil.  —  Gold  in  Gneiss,  at  Jaragua, 
Cantagallo,  Pianco,  and  elsewhere. — The  richest  Deposits  found  in  Veins 
traversing  Clay  Slates.  —  Character  of  Auriferous  Quartz.  —  Granular 
Quartz,  or  Caco.  —  Gold  when  associated  with  Sulphides  rarely  visible.  — 
The  auriferous  Iron  Ore,  Jacutinga. —  Gold-Mines  of  Sao  Joao  d'El-Rei. — 
The  Morro  Velho  Mine,  Mode  of  Occurrence  of  the  Gold,  Method  of  Extrac 
tion,  Yield,  &c. —  The  Gongo  Soco  Mine.  —  The  Rossa  Grande  Gold-Mining 
Company.  —  Mines  at  Morro  de  Santa  Anna,  Congonhas  do  Campo,  Sao  Vi 
cente,  Cata  Branca.  —  The  Gold-Mines  of  Brazil  not  yet  fairly  developed  .  632 


CHAPTER    XIX. 

RESUME    OP    THE    GEOLOGY    OF    BRAZIL. 

Eozoic  Rocks  and  their  Distribution  in  Brazil.  —  Absence  of  Limestones. — 
The  Silurian  Age  in  Brazil.  —  The  auriferous  Clay-Slates  of  Minas  probably 
Lower  Silurian.  —  Note  on  the  Silurian  of  the  Andes.  —  The  Distribution  of 
Marine  Animals  in  the  Palaeozoic.  —  The  Devonian  Age  in  Brazil  and  South 
America.  —  The  Carboniferous  of  Brazil  and  Bolivia.  —  The  New  Red  Sand 
stone. —  The  Cretaceous,  its  Distribution  in  Brazil  and  South  America. — 
Several  distinct  Periods  represented.  —  Tertiary  Rocks. —  Drift.  —  The  Gla 
cial  Phenomena  of  Patagonia. —  Tapanhoaeanga. —  The  Drift  of  Rio  and 
of  the  Region  of  Decomposition.  —  The  Drift  of  the  Dry  Region  of  Bahia, 
Sergipe,  and  Alagoas. —  Examination  into  the  Merits  of  the  various  Theories 
proposed  to  account  for  the  Formation  of  the  Brazilian  Drift.  —  The  Theory 
of  Subaerial  Decomposition. — Wave  Action  during  a  Subsidence. —  Wave 
Action  during  Elevation. —  All  these  Theories  unsatisfactory.  —  The  Glacial 
Hypothesis  the  most  reasonable 547 


CONTENTS.  XXI 


APPENDIX. 


ON    THE   BOTOCUDOS. 

Origin  of  the  Name  Botocudo.  —  Stature.  —  Physical  Form  and  Characteristics. 
—  Manner  of  Wearing  Hair.  —  Lip  and  Ear  Ornaments.  —  Professor  W yman's 
Description  of  Skull  of  Botocudo  from  Sao  Matheos.  —  Comparison  with 
other  described  Botocudo  Skulls.  —  Color  of  Botocudo.  —  Manner  of  Painting 
the  Body.  —  Dislike  to  being  clothed.  —  Bows  and  Arrows  described.  — 
Gerber's  Enumeration  of  the  Tribes.  —  Von  Tschudi's  Description  of  the 
Tribes. —  Ranches  and  Huts. —  Food.  —  Mode  of  procuring  Fire.  —  Manu 
factures.  —  Marriage  Customs.  —  The  Botocudos  cruel  Husbands. —  Facility 
with  which  Wounds  heal.  —  Treatment  of  Children.  —  Religious  Ideas.  — 
Belief  in  the  Bad  Spirit,  Janchon.  —  No  Belief  in  a  Supreme  God.  —  Burial 
Customs.  —  War  Customs.  —  Cannibalism.  —  Dance.  —  The  Botocudos  fast 
disappearing.  —  Botocudo  Character.  —  Geographical  Distribution  of  the 
Botocudos.  —  Peculiarities  of  their  Language,  Pronunciation,  Grammatical 
Structure,  &c.  —  Botocudo  Vocabularies 577 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


COAL-BEDS  ON  Rio  CANDIOTA,  Rio  GRANDE  DO  SUL  .  .  .  Frontispiece. 

MAP  OF  PART  OF  PROVINCE  OF  Rio  DE  JANEIRO Page  5 

THE  SUGAR-LOAF,  CORCOVADO,  AND  GAVIA,  FROM  SAO  DOMINGO  .  .  10 

SECTION  AT  PRAIA  GRANDE 13 

THE  ORGANS 16 

SECTION  ALONG  THE  LINE  OF  THE  CANTAGALLO  RAILROAD  .  .  .  .22 

THE  CASCATINHA  AT  TIJUCA 27 

SUCTION  OF  DRIFT  AT  BENNETT'S,  TIJUCA 28 

BOULDERS  AT  TIJUCA 30 

IDEAL  SECTION  OF  DRIFT-COVERED  GNEISS  HILL 31 

DIAGRAM  TO  SHOW  CONTRAST  IN  MOULDING  BETWEEN  -DRIFT-COVERED 

AND  BARE  SURFACES 34 

COAST  JUST  EAST  OF  Rio 37 

CAPE  FRIO • 39 

ONE  OF  THE  ISLANDS  OF  SANTA  ANNA 42 

FRADE  DE  MACAHE" 43 

LOOKING  UP  THE  Rio  PARAHYBA  FROM  ABOVE  CAMPOS  ....  49 

THE  PEDRA  LISA 64 

SERRA  OF  ITAPEMEKIM,  SEEN  FROM  THE  SEA 58 

COAST  SOUTH  OF  GUARAPARY 61 

BAY  OF  ESPRITO  SANTO,  LOOKING  UP  TO  THE  PAO  DE  ASSUCAR,  AND  CITY 

OF  VICTORIA 66 

MONTE  JUTUQUARA  AND  GNEISS  HILLS  NEAR  VICTORIA  ....  67 

F()RTALEZA  DE  PERITININGA 68 

BOULDER  OF  DECOMPOSITION,  VICTORIA 69 

DECOMPOSING  SURFACE,  ILHO  DO  Boi 70 

NOSSA  SENHORA  DA  PENHA,  VICTORIA 70 

ANCIENT  SEA-LEVEL  ON  PAO  D' ASSUCAR,  VICTORIA  .  .  .  .  .7V 

ARRANGEMENT  OF  LITTORAL  FAUNA  AT  VILLA  VELHA  ....  73 

MORRO  DE  MESTRE  ALVARO 80 

COAST  BETWEEN  VICTORIA  AND  Rio  DOCE 85 

Rio  DOCE  AT  PORTO  DE  SOUZA 92 

VIEW  ON  Rio  DOCE 94 

LOOKING  UP  THE  DOCE  FROM  NEAR  LINHARES  •  •  -97 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS.  XX111 

LAGOA  JUPARANAA,  LOOKING  TOWARDS  THE  OUTLET  ....  102 

LAGOA  DO  Aviso 103 

FAZENDA  OF  CAMPO  REDONDO,  SAO  MATHEOS 120 

SANTA  RITA  RIVER  VALLEY 143 

CORRUGATED  QUARTZ  VEINS  AT  MINAS  NOVAS 158 

ISLAND  OF  SANTA  BARBARA  DOS  ABROLHOS 175 

THE  ISLANDS  OF  THE  ABROLHOS  FROM  THE  SOUTH  ....  176 

RECIFE  DO  Lixo 202 

SECTION  ACROSS  BORDER  OF  Lixo  REEF 210 

PROFILE  SKETCH  OF  RIVER  VALLEY  NEAR  PORTO  SEGURO  .  .  .  225 

MONTE  PASCOAL  FROM  THE  SEA 226 

SECTION  ACROSS  STONE  REEF  AT  PORTO  SEGURO 229 

BAYS  OF  SANTA  CRUZ  AND  CABRAL 233 

VIEW  OF  THE  COAST  SOUTH  OF  THE  Rio  DE  CONTAS  ....  260 

MAP  OF  CAMAMU  BAY 262 

MAP  OF  BAHIA  AND  VICINITY 267 

GROUND  VIEW  OF  THE  LAPA  VERMELHA 282 

SECTION  OF  Rio  SAO  FRANCISCO  VALLEY 310 

VIEW  OF  VALLEY  WALLS  NEAR  JACOBINA 313 

KNOBS  NEAR  THE  SfiRRA  DA  TERRA  DURA 315 

SECTIONS  OF  SEVERAL  CUTTINGS  ON  THE  BAHIA  AND  SAO  FRANCISCO 

RAILROAD 355-367 

TERTIARY  HILLS  NEAR  POJUCA  TUNNEL 371 

THE  TABOLEIROS  NEAR  ALAGOINHAS 376 

SAND-DUNES  AT  THE  MOUTH  OF  THE  Rio  REAL 380 

BAR  OF  Rio  COTINGUIBA 382 

MAROIM 384 

VILLA  NOVA  AND  PENEDO 397 

TRAIPU"  FROM  NEAR  MARCACAO 407 

LOOKING  DOWN  THE  RIVER  FROM  PAO  D'ASSUCAR 410 

CATTLE  FAZENDA  AND  GARDEN  NEAR  PAO  D'ASSUCAR  .  .  .  •  411 

VIEW  NEAR  ALLEGRIA 412 

VlEW  LOOKING  UP  TOWARDS  PlRANHAS 413 

CACHOEIRA  DE  PAULO  AFFONSO 415 

PERNAMBUCO 434 

ISLAND  OF  FERNANDO  DE  NORONHA 438 

MOUTH  OF  Rio  PARAHYBA  DO  NORTE 443 

SKETCH-MAP  OF  THE  Rio  PARAHYBA  DO  NORTE 444 

MOUTH  OF  Rio  GRANDE  DO  NORTE 455 

CUTTING  ON  THE  SAO  PAULO  RAILWAY,  SHOWING  DRIFT  LYING  ON 

DECOMPOSED  ROCK 608 

P>OTOCUDO  MAN  AND  WOMAN 581 

SKULL  OF  BOTOCUDO 585 

•4 


GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL  GEOGRAPHY  OF 
BRAZIL. 


CHAPTER    I. 

THE  PROVINCE   OF   RIO   DE  JANEIRO. 

The  Scrra  do  Mar.  —  The  Serra  da  Mantiqueira,  and  the  Pico  do  Itatiaiossii.  — 
The  Rio  Parahyba  do  Sul  and  its  Tributaries.  —  Description  of  the  Bay  of 
Rio,  its  Islands,  Tides,  &c.  —  The  Sugar-Loaf.  —  The  Corcovado.  —  The 
Gneiss  of  Eio.  —  The  Organ  Mountains.  —  Geological  Observations  along 
the  Cantagallo  Railroad.  —  Drift  Phenomena  at  Ilio,  Tijuca,  and  on  the 
Dom  Pedro  II.  Railroad.  —  Decomposition  of  Gneiss  in  situ  and  its  Effect  on 
the  Forms  of  the  Hills.  —  Recent  Rise  of  the  Coast.  —  The  Coast  between 
Rio  and  Cape  Frio,  its  Lakes,  Salines,  &c.  —  Cape  Frio.  —  Os  Btizios.  —  Isl 
ands  of  Santa  Anna.  —  Frade  de  Macahe.  —  Campos  dos  Goitacazcs,  their  La 
goons,  Canal,  &c. —  Rio  Parahyba. —  Sao  Joao  da  Barra. —  Sugar  Plantations. 

—  City  of  Campos.  —  The  Rio  Muriahe.  —  Tertiary  Beds.  —  Sugar  Fazcndas. 

—  Sao  Fidelis.  —  The  Gold  Mines  of  Cantagallo.  —  Geological  Notes  on  the 
Country  between  Sao  Fidelis  and  Bom  Jesus.  —  The  Rio  Itabapuana.  —  The 
Serra  d'ltabapuana.  —  The  Garrafao.  —  Barra  do  Itabapuana. 

THE  province  of  Rio  de  Janeiro  is  almost  entirely  com 
posed  of  gneiss,  and  this  gneiss  region  is  mountainous  and 
high.  The  Serra  do  Mar,  skirting  the  coast  of  the  province 
of  Sao  Paulo,  enters  the  southwest  corner  of  the  province  of 
Rio,  and,  composed  of  a  great  number  of  parallel* ridges, 
often  much  broken,  traverses  it  from  one  end  to  the  other. 
These  mountains  form  the  edge  of  the  great  Brazilian 
plateau,  which  consists  along  its  eastern  border  of  a 
broad  band  of  gneiss.  The  course  of  the  Serra  do  Mar  is 
approximately  east-northeast,  so  that,  as  the  coast  of  the 


2  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

province  of  Rio  de  Janeiro  runs  eastward  from  Sao  Paulo 
to  Cape  Frio,  the  Serra  do  Mar,  on  entering  the  province 
of  Rio,  trends  gradually  away  from  the  coast,  passing  by 
the  head  of  the  Bay  of  Rio.  The  gneiss  plateau  is  bor 
dered  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  province  by  low  plains, 
tertiary  and  recent.  The  minor  ridges  of  the  grand  Serra 
do  Mar  break  down  abruptly  on  the  edge  of  these  low 
grounds.  In  the  western  part  of  the  province,  where 
the  Serra  skirts  the  coast,  that  coast  is  often  high,  bold, 
very  irregular  in  outline,  and  bordered  by  numerous  rocky 
islands.  South  of  the  Serra  do  Mar,  at  Rio,  lie  several 
isolated  mountains  and  ranges  of  hills,  really  belonging 
to  the  same  great  mountain  system,  but  separated  from 
the  plateau  by  low  plains  similar  to  those  north  of  Cape 
Frio. 

To  the  northwest  of  the  Serra  do  Mar,  and  separated 
from  it  in  part  by  the  valley  of  the  river  Parahyba  do  Sul, 
is  another  great  mountain  range  called  the  Serra  da  Man- 
tiqueira,  which  is  also  composed  of  gneiss,  and  belongs  to 
the  same  system  of  upheaval  as  the  Serra  do  Mar.  This 
range  separates  itself  from  the  coast  range  near  the  city  of 
Sao  Paulo,  and,  lying  inside  the  Serra  do  Mar,  skirts  the 
coast  to  a  much  greater  distance  to  the  north  than  the 
latter  does.  The  ridge  properly  called  the  Serra  da  Man- 
tiqueira  accompanies  the  northern  part  of  the  province  of 
Rio  for  a  few  miles,  when  the  province  boundary  line 
leaves  il  and  runs  off  to  the  eastward. 

At  a  distance  of  four  or  five  miles  from  the  northwest 
corner  of  the  province,  in  the  Serra  da  Mantiqueira,  is  the 
Pico  do  Itatiaiossu,  which  appears  to  be  the  highest  point 
in  Brazil,  and,  according  to  the  Revista  Trimensal  do 
Institute  Historico  e  G-eographico  Brasileiro,  has  an  al- 


THE   PROVINCE   OF   RIO  DE   JANEIRO.  3 

titude  of  about  10,300  feet.*  It  is  said  to  be  volcanic  in 
structure,  and  two  craters  are  reported  to  exist  on  it,  to 
gether  with  sulphur  springs  and  sulphur  deposits.!  I  have 
never  seen  the  Itatiaiossu,  but  I  have  the  strongest  doubt 
as  to  its  being  a  volcano.  Snow  occasionally  falls  on  this 
mountain  during  the  winter,  and  is  said  to  remain  some 
times  for  several  days.  There  can  be  no  reasonable  doubt 
about  this  being  the  highest  peak  in  Brazil.  Itacolumi, 
so  long  famed,  is,  according  to  Burton,  only  about  6,400 
feet  in  height.  According  to  Eschwege,  this  last  peak  is 
5,720  feet ;  Gerber  says  1,112  metres  (3,650  feet)  ;  while 
the  highest  point  cited  by  Gerber  is  the  Alto  da  Serra  da 
Piedade,  in  the  Municipio  de  Sabar4,  which  Liais  makes 
only  1,783  metres  (5,853  feet).  Gardner  estimates  the 
height  of  the  Organ  Mountains  at  from  7,500  to  7,800 
feet.  It  is  interesting  to  observe,  as  Burton  has  remarked, 
that  the  summit  line  is  not  in  the  interior  in  Brazil,  but 
close  to  the  coast.  Almost  precisely  south  of  the  Itati 
aiossu,  in  the  province  of  Sao  Paulo,  is  a  high  point  in 
the  Serra  do  Mar,  which  gives  rise  to  two  rivers,  —  one,  a 
small  stream,  the  Rio  Pirahy,  flowing  east  and  then  north 
east  between  two  ridges  of  the  Serra  do  Mar  ;  the  other, 
the  Rio  Parahyba  do  Sul,  under  the  name  of  Pirahytinga, 
which  flows  southwestward  and  westward  for  about  eighty 
miles,  when  it  escapes  northward  around  the  end  of  the 
ridge  which  has  so  far  formed  its  barrier  on  the  north,  and, 
doubling  upon  itself,  flows  thence,  with  a  general  east-north 
east  direction,  behind  the  Serra  do  Mar,  traversing  the  whole 

*  Dr.  Candido  Mendes  de  Almeida,  in  his  Atlas  do  Imperio  do  Brazil, 
makes  the  height  only  2,994  metres,  or  9,829  feet. 

t  Burton,  Explorations,  &c.,  Vol.  I.  p.  61.  He  does  not  here  speak  from 
personal  observation. 


4  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

province  of  Rio  de  Janeiro,  until,  some  forty-five  miles  from 
the  sea,  the  mountains  break  down  on  the  edge  of  the  pla 
teau,  when  it  reaches  the  Campos  dos  Goitacazes,  and 
empties  into  the  sea  after  a  course  of  102  Brazilian  leagues 
(Gerber),  or  408  miles. 

According  to  Gerber,  the  altitude  of  the  river  above  the 
sea,  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  Parahybuna,  is  272  metres. 
The  stream  is  so  much  broken  up  by  rapids  above  Sao  Fide- 
lis  that  steam  navigation  ends  there,  and  in  the  rest  of  its 
course  it  gives  passage  only  to  canoes  and  large  montarias 
propelled  by  the  setting-pole  or  towing-rope. 

The  principal  affluents  of  the  Parahyba  are  the  Rio 
Pirahy,  already  mentioned,  which  affords  steam  naviga 
tion  for  a  short  distance  above  its  mouth  ;  the  Rio  Preto, 
which  rises  in  the  Itatiaiossu,  and  is  a  much  larger  stream, 
falling  into  the  Parahyba  north  of  Rio  ;  the  Pirapitinga, 
which  rises  in  the  Serra  of  the  Pardo ;  the  Piabanha,  which 
descends  from  the  Scrra  do  Mar  from  near  Petropolis, 
and  enters  the  Rio  Parahyba  at  Entre  Rios,  a  little  above 
the  Parahybuna;  (this  latter  descends  from  the  Man- 
tiqueira,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  basin,  in  the  same 
meridian  with  the  Piabanha)  ;  the  Pomba,  which  rises  in 
the  Serra  da  Mantiqueira,  a  few  miles  east  of  Barbacena ; 
and  the  Muriab.6,  which  takes  its  source  in  the  same  range, 
a  few  leagues  to  the  east.  The  gneiss  region  of  Rio,  where 
uncultivated,  bears  a  most  vigorous  virgin  forest  growth, 
and  its  soils  are  particularly  favorable  for  the  cultivation  of 
coffee  ;  the  great  valley  of  the  Parahyba,  above  Sao  Fidelis, 
and  the  valleys  of  its  affluents,  are  largely  occupied  by  coffee 
plantations.  The  same  is  true  of  the  gneiss  regions  of  the 
north,  whose  topography  and  soils  are,  over  large  districts, 
favorable  for  coffee  planting. 


THE  PROVINCE   OF   RIO  DE  JANEIRO. 


6  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

With  these  words  of  introduction,  let  us  now  look  at  the 
general  points  of  interest  to  the  geologist  and  physical  geog 
rapher  in  the  vicinity  of  Rio,  and  then  examine  the  province 
to  the  east. 

The  Bay  of  Rio  is  a  basin  penetrating  inland  about  twenty 
miles.  It  is  only  about  a  mile  wide  at  the  mouth,  or  Barra, 
but  widens  immediately.  The  shores  on  each  side  run  in 
and  out  with  deep,  sweeping  curves,  making  beautiful  bays ; 
and,  three  miles  inside,  passing  the  city  of  Nictherohy  on 
the  east  and  Rio  de  Janeiro  on  the  west,  the  bay  widens 
rapidly,  and  then,  with  the  same  irregular  shore  line,  attains 
its  greatest  width  about  six  miles  from  the  mouth,  when  it 
contracts  and  runs  off  inland  toward  the  northeast.  It  con 
tains  several  islands  ;  those  near  the  city,  as  the  Ilha  das 
Cobras  and  Ilha  Enxada,  are  of  gneiss,  like  that  of  the  adja 
cent  hills. 

The  Ilha  do  Governador,  a  large  island  which  I  have  ex 
amined  on  the  eastern  side,  is  composed  partially  of  gneiss  ; 
but  I  strongly  suspect  that  it  is  largely  made  up  of  the 
same  tertiary  clays  which  I  have  found  on  the  Cantagallo 
Railroad,  near  Porto  das  Caixas.  It  seems  too  level  to 
consist  of  gneiss  alone.  This  island  possesses  fertile  soils, 
but  the  ants  are  a  terrible  plague.  Burton  says  that  there 
are  kjoekkenmoeddings  upon  it.  Ancient  shell-heaps  have 
been  reported  from  Brazil  by  Dr.  Henry  Naegeli  of  Rio, 
and  they  occur  at  various  places  along  the  coast.  At  Santos 
there  are  some  very  extensive  ones,  and  St.  Hilaire  speaks 
of  numerous  shell-heaps  on  the  coast  of  the  province  of 
Espirito  Santo  near  Santa  Cruz. 

The  smaller  islands  arc  gneiss,  though,  as  in  Paquetd,  we 
find  isolated  gneiss  masses  united  by  stretches  of  sands  con 
taining  recent  shells.  Spix  and  Martius  have  called  attention 


THE  PROVINCE   OF   RIO  DE  JANEIRO.  7 

to  the  great  number  of  palms  growing  on  the  islands  in  the 
Bay  of  Rio,  owing  to  the  dampness  and  heat  of  the  climate. 
The  bay  is  nowhere  very  deep  ;  along  the  shores  it  is  very 
shallow ;  and  Mouchez's  map  shows  the  soundings  pro 
gressing  quite  uniformly  from  all  sides,  from  one  to  four 
teen  or  eighteen  metres.  Near  the  middle  of  the  bay,  off 
Rio,  we  find  the  greatest  depth,  —  thirty-one  metres. 

Near  the  mouth  of  the  bay  the  shores  are  rocky  and  sandy ; 
the  water  is  clear,  and  the  bottom  is  composed  of  sand  and 
shells ;  but  around  the  whole  head  of  the  bay,  where  the 
shores  are  low,  and  a  host  of  little  rivers  bring  down  great 
quantities  of  silt,  the  basin  is  bordered  by  extensive  man 
grove  swamps,  and  the  bottom  is  shallow  and  muddy. 

In  the  turbid  and  somewhat  brackish  waters  of  the  head 
of  the  bay  oysters  of  an  immense  size  flourish,  often  grow 
ing  attached  to  the  roots  of  the  mangroves.  Fish  are  very 
abundant,  and  the  curraes,  or  weirs,  for  taking  them  are 
conspicuous  objects  in  the  shore  scenery.  The  waters  of 
the  interior  of  the  bay  are  exceedingly  clear  and  bright,  and 
off  the  islands  of  Paqueta  and  Governador  a  deposit  of 
shells,  with  a  calcareous  mud,  is  in  process  of  accumulation. 
Almost  all  the  shells  are  small,  and  consist  chiefly  of  spe 
cies  of  Area,  Venus,  Murex,  Cardium,  Dentalium,  <tc.  I  have 
looked  diligently  for  corals,  but  the  only  Madreporians  I 
have  seen  in  the  Bay  of  Rio  consist  of  a  couple  of  species 
of  Astrangia*  found  growing  on  the  shells,  and  contributing 
really  nothing  to  the  deposits  there  accumulating.  The  tide 
in  the  Bay  of  Rio,  as  near  as  I  can  learn,  rises  from  three  to 
five  feet,f  but  is  very  uncertain,  as  has  been  remarked  by 

*  Professor  Agassiz  tells  me  that  a  species  of  Porites  has  been  collected  by 
Dr.  Naegcli. 

t  On  the  map  of  Rio,  by  M.  Barral,  it  is  set  down  as  three  feet.  Spix  and 
Martius  are  in  error  in  making  it  fourteen  or  fifteen  feet. 


8  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

Spix  and  Martius.*  I  have  seen  the  tide  stand  at  the  same 
level  for  a  whole  day  at  the  docks  in  Rio.  On  one  occasion 
I  visited  Paqueta,  and  during  a  day  and  a  half  the  tide 
was  high  ;  but,  shortly  after  my  return  to  Rio,  it  fell  to  an 
extraordinarily  low  level,  and  remained  so  for  many  hours. 
This  appears  to  be  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  bay  opens 
to  the  southward,  while  the  mouth  is  very  contracted,  so  that 
the  waters  may  be  piled  up  on  the  coast  by  a  southerly 
wind  in  such  a  way  as  to  prevent  the  tide  from  flowing 
out,  while  other  winds  may  depress  the  level  of  the  waters 
for  as  long  a  period. 

The  entrance  to  the  harbor  is  very  bold  on  both  sides, 
and  is  sentinelled  by  steep  gneiss  hills,  —  rounded  or  coni 
cal,  wooded  or  bare,  —  presenting  lichen-blacked  precipices, 
whose  faces  are  smoothed  and  rounded  in  a  most  remarkable 
manner.  On  the  eastern  side  some  of  these  hills  are  more 
than  a  thousand  feet  in  height.  They  are  clustered  closely 
together,  and  stretch  off  in  a  sea  of  hills  along  the  bay  for  a 
few  miles  on  the  eastern  side,  while  along  the  coast,  eastward 
toward  Cape  Frio,  they  form  a  line  of  irregular  mountains 
of  much  grandeur  and  beauty.  On  the  west  side  of  the 
entrance  to  the  bay  is  the  conical  peak  of  the  Pao  de  Assu- 

*  Spix  and  Martius,  Reise,  Vol.  I.  p.  95.  "  The  interior  basin  of  Rio  de 
Janeiro  has  its  tide  as  well  as  the  ocean.  At  new  and  full  moon,  high  water, 
which  rises  fourteen  or  fifteen  feet,  sets  in  at  thirty  minutes  past  four  ;  the  ebb 
sometimes  continues  a  whole  day  without  intermission,  at  which  time  the  current 
is  the  strongest  on  the  west  side  of  the  bay.  On  the  other  hand,  when  the  flood 
begins,  a  whirling  current  is  remarked  on  the  east  side.  The  flood  continues  a 
shorter  time  than  the  ebb,  and  usually  runs  at  the  rate  of  three  or  four  sea 
miles  per  hour.  This  strong  flood  has  more  than  once  led  the  captains  of  the 
ships  into  error,  and  caused  them  to  cast  anchor  too  close  to  the  shore." 

The  same  authors  remark  that  the  saltness  of  the  water  of  the  bay  is  rather 
less  than  that  of  the  ocean.  This  is  to  be  expected,  from  the  large  drain  of 
fresh  water  into  it. 


THE   PROVINCE   OF   RIO   DE  JANEIRO.  9 

car  (Pot  de  Beurre  of  the  early  French  colonists),  with  its 
smooth,  precipitous  sides.  This  celebrated  rock  belongs  to 
a  short  range  of  hills  that  runs  westward  to  the  LagQa  das 
Freitas,  and  which  is  separated  from  the  Corcovado,  and  the 
hills  of  which  the  latter  forms  a  part,  by  the  valley  of  Bota- 
fogo.  The  Sugar-loaf  is  said  to  be  over  a  thousand  feet  in 
height.*  The  other  hills  are  much  lower,  and  are  rounded, 
with  precipitous  sides  facing  the  valley.  They  are  composed 
of  heavy  beds  of  gneiss,  which  is  very  homogeneous,  coarse 
grained,  and  often  very  porphyritic  in  structure,  with 
large  crystals  of  flesh-colored  orthoclase  feldspar.  These 
beds  have  very  nearly  the  same  strike  as  the  trend  of  the 
hills  they  compose,  and  dip  southward  at  a  moderate  angle, 
as  may  be  observed  in  the  cliffs  along  the  pass  leading  from 
Botafogo  to  the  Praia  de  Copocabana.  The  Corcovado  is 
a  sharp,  angular  peak,  which  separates  itself  from  the  great 
mass  of  hills  lying  back  of  Rio,  rising  by  a  long,  narrow 
incline  on  the  northwestern  side  to  a  point  only  a  few  rods 
in  area  on  top.  On  three  sides  it  drops  off  in  a  splendid 
sheer  precipice,  which  on  the  south  is  several  hundred  feet 
high.  Below  this  precipice  the  mountain  presents  to 
ward  the  south  a  very  steep  wooded  slope.  A  similar 
slope,  not  a  talus,  runs  below  the  cliffs  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  valley,  and  may  be  observed  in  very  many 
hills  of  the  gneiss  region.  In  the  Corcovado  we  find 
rocks  similar  to  those  of  the  Sugar-loaf,  but  varying  con 
siderably  in  character,  being  generally,  near  the  top,  well 
laminated,  sometimes  with  large  crystals  of  feldspar,  and 
not  infrequently  full  of  garnets.  The  dip  varies  somewhat, 
arid  I  find  in  my  field-book  two  notes  of  a  slight  southerly 

*  Burmeister  says  1,212  feet.     (Reise  nach  Brasilien,  p.  57.)    Dr.  Almeida 
makes  it  373  metres,  or  about  1,426  feet. 
1* 


10 


GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 


THE  SUGAR-LOAF,  COKCOVADO  AND  GAVIA,  FROM  SAO  DOMINGO. 

dip  near  the  top,  while  an  observation  taken  some  distance 
below  the  reservoir  on  the  aqueduct  gave  a  marked  north 
ward  dip.  The  general  dip  of  the  gneiss  in  the  peak,  as  well 
as  in  the  hills  east,  is  certainly  northward,  and  one  sees  the 
same  dip  in  certain  ledges  of  rock  in  the  harbor,  which  lie 
in  the  line  of  strike  of  the  beds  of  the  Corcovado.  The  val 
ley  which  separates  the  hills  of  the  Corcovado  from  those  of 
the  Sugar-loaf  is  therefore  an  anteclinal  valley.  Professor 
Agassiz  has  independently  made  the  same  observations,  and 
has  come  to  the  same  conclusions.* 

Three  miles  southwest  of  the  Corcovado  are  the  Tres  Irmaos, 
a  group  of  conical  peaks  very  interesting  to  the  student  of 
topography,  and  a  couple  of  miles  west  of  these  is  the  Gavia, 
an  isolated,  tower-like,  flat-topped  mountain,  said  to  be  3,000 
feet  high.  Within  the  irregular  ring  formed  by  these  rnoun- 

*  Pissis  has  called  attention  to  the  resemblance  borne  between  the  fine 
grained  gneiss,  with  garnets  overlying  the  porphyritic  variety  forming  the  base 
of  the  Corcovado,  and  that  of  the  rocks  at  Copocabana.  (Mem.  de  Vlnstit. 
de  France,  Tom.  X.  pp.  362,  363.) 


THE  PROVINCE   OF  RIO  DE   JANEIRO.  11 

tains  is  the  beautiful  Lagoa  dc  Freitas,  a  sheet  of  water  held 
in  a  basin  among  the  hills,  and  shut  out  from  the  sea  —  like 
the  lagoas  so  common  along  the  coast  east  and  west  of  Rio 
—  by  the  throwing  up  of  a  sand-beach  across  its  mouth. 
Travellers  all  speak  of  the  romantic  beauty  of  this  spot,  and 
it  is  worthy  of  their  praise ;  for  though  clothed  in  the  warm 
verdure  of  the  tropics,  it  is  really  Swiss-like  in  the  character 
of  its  scenery.  If  the  geologist  has  any  soul,  any  love  for 
the  beautiful,  there  is  no  scene  which,  with  all  his  cold  anal 
ysis  of  topographical  and  geological  elements,  is  more  likely 
to  impress  him  as  an  artist's  work.  I  know  of  no  view 
which  has  affected  me  so  much  —  not  only  as  a  scientific 
observer,  but  as  a  man  —  as  that  of  the  vicinity  of  Rio 
from  the  top  of  the  Corcovado.  There  are  a  thousand  sub 
jects  for  observation  and  study ;  and,  with  all,  there  comes 
over  one  a  feeling  akin  to,  but  infinitely  more  deep  and 
impressive  than,  that  which  one  experiences  when  in  some 
old  cathedral  he  sits  down  to  study  the  sublime  creation  of 
one  of  the  old  masters.  He  who  can  lean  over  the  parapet 
that  crowns  the  Corcovado,  and  look  down  more  than  2,000 
feetf  on  the  temple  of  palms  of  the  Botanical  Garden,  and  on 
the  silent  Lagoa  de  Freitas,  —  "  another  sky,"  in  whose  blue 
depths  sail  soft  fleecy  clouds, — who  can  gaze  on  the  proud 
encircling  peaks,  green  with  an  everlasting  spring,  and  shiv 
ering  with  silvery  reflections  from  the  Cecropias,  —  who 
can  look  out  over  the  island  and  sail  dotted  sea,  and  the 
surges  creeping  up  on  the  long,  curving  sea-beaches,  and 
then  over  the  bay,  with  the  city  fringing  widely  its  sweep 
ing  curves,  the  sea  of  hills  beyond,  the  majestic  Serra  dos 
Orgaos  heaving  its  great  back,  in  the  exquisite  blue  distance, 
far  above  the  level  line  of  the  clouds,  its  great  minarets 

*  2,179  feet  is  the  exact  height.    Burmeister  says  2,164. 


12  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

sharply  defined  against  the  purple  ether,  —  and  can  intelli 
gently  take  into  consideration  all  the  geological,  climatic, 
and  other  natural  laws  which  have  determined  the  elements 
of  beauty  and  usefulness  in  the  scene,  and  not  have  his  whole 
soul  moved  within  him  in  homage  to  the  Artist  whose  hand 
has  moulded  continents,  carved  out  their  lineaments,  spread 
over  them  their  mantle  of  vegetation,  and  peopled  them  with 
living  forms,  has  not  gone  beyond  the  alphabet  and  gram 
mar  of  his  science,  and  has  no  idea  of  the  literature  of 
Nature. 

The  Corcovado  is  only  one  peak  of  a  mass  of  hills  which 
occupies  a  large  area  west  of  Rio.  It  is  united  by  a  pass 
1,000  feet  in  height  to  another  mass  lying  northward  of  the 
last,  and  which  culminates  in  a  sharp  conical  peak  called 
Tijuca,  the  latter  being  about  3,447  feet  in  height.  The 
Tijuca  range  is  connected  with  a  group  of  hills  which  ex 
tends  several  leagues  to  the  west.  "Westward  of  the  Gavia 
is  a  stretch  of  plain  only  a  few  feet  in  elevation  above  the 
sea,  and  broken  up  by  very  numerous  lakes,  some  of  which 
are  of  considerable  size.  Between  the  hills  which  I  have 
just  described  and  the  Serra  do  Mar  there  is  a  wide  extent 
of  low  country,  in  some  parts  perfectly  flat  and  very  low, 
in  others  somewhat  diversified  with  hills.  I  have  seen 
this  country  only  from  the  railway-train,  but  I  would  sug 
gest  the  more  than  probability  that  a  considerable  part  of  it 
may  be  made  up  of  beds  of  stratified  clays,  like  those  of  the 
Cantagallo  Railroad,  presently  to  be  described.  The  Serra  do 
Mar,  as  well  as  the  whole  range,  including  the  Organ  and 
Cantagallo  Mountains,  as  has  been  already  stated,  is  com 
posed  of  gneiss. 

At  Rio  the  gneiss  varies  very  much  in  texture.  As  a  gen 
eral  thing  it  occurs  in  very  thick  homogeneous  beds,  varying 


THE  PROVINCE   OF  RIO  DE  JANEIRO.  13 

from  an  exceedingly  coarse  porphyritic  kind  containing  large 
crystals  of  black  mica,  and  crystals  of  pink  feldspar  several 
inches  long,  to  a  fine,  even-grained,  compact,  light-gray 
variety.  Sometimes  it  is  very  distinctly  laminated,  fissile, 
flaggy,  or  schistose.  Garnets  are  very  common  in  it.  It 
is  largely  quarried  for  building  purposes  in  all  directions, 
and  the  finer-grained  kinds  are  much  used  for  paving,  not 
only  in  the  streets  of  Rio,  but  in  other  towns  on  the 
coast.  The  numerous  quarries  afford  very  excellent  sec 
tions.  The  unbroken  compactness  and  the  little  jointing 
of  rock,  even  on  the  surface,  strike  the  observer  as  re 
markable.  Many  of  the  hills  are  monoliths.  The  dip 
and  strike  are,  owing  to  the  homogeneity  of  the  rock,  gen 
erally  very  indistinct.  Immense  granite  veins,  with  the 
minerals  composing  them  often  very  coarsely  crystallized, 
traverse  the  rock,  together  with  veins  of  milky  quartz  and 
occasional  dykes  of  diorite  or  greenstone.  Faults  are  numer 
ous.  I  copy  from  my  note-book  the  following  section  -made 
from  the  barracks  north  of  Praia  Grande  on  the  eastern  side 
of  the  harbor  and  extending  southward  to  the  city :  — 


SECTION   AT   PRAIA   GRANDE. 


At  the  barracks,  the  gneiss,  a,  is  dark  gray  with  a  fine 
lamination.  The  crystals  of  feldspar  are  very  small,  and 
there  are  a  great  many  red  garnets.  Strike  N.  40°  E. 
Dip  30°  S. 

About  800  feet  southward  of  the  barracks  is  a  large  quarry, 
in  a  bed  of  very  compact  gneiss,  d,  showing  scarcely  a  trace  of 
stratification.  It  is  composed  of  feldspar  in  large  crystals, 


14  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

mica,  finely  crystallized,  and  very  little  quartz.  Garnets  are 
abundant,  and  the  rock  is  traversed  by  veins,  a  number  of 
which  I  have  noted  as  dipping  steeply  southward.  In  one 
of  these  veins,  which  was  four  inches  in  width,  the  sides 
consisted  almost  wholly  of  large,  coarse  crystals  of  a  light, 
flesh-colored  feldspar  with  a  little  green  mica,  while  the 
middle  portion  was  made  up  of  clear,  glassy  quartz  of  a 
light  reddish  color,  with  an  occasional  large  crystal  of  black 
mica. 

Above  these  beds  are  others,  in  which  I  have  noted  that 
the  crystals  of  feldspar  lie  with  their  longer  sides  parallel  to 
the  plane  of  stratification.  In  a  large  vein  here  we  find  the 
same  arrangement  of  the  materials  as  in  that  above  de 
scribed. 

/.  Gneiss  with  very  large  crystals  of  feldspar. 

g.  Thin  beds  of  compact  mica-slate,  or  extremely  fine 
grained  and  distinctly  bedded  gneiss.  Strike  N.  35°  E. 
Dip  35°  S. 

Here  the  section  fails  on  reaching  the  city.  In  a  hill  im 
mediately  east  of  the  church  of  Sao  Joao  the  gneiss  is 
principally  composed  of  large  feldspar  crystals.  Strike  N. 
80°  E.  Dip  35°  S.  In  the  point  between  Praia  Grande  and 
Sao  Domingo  the  rock  is  like  that  last  seen,  the  strike 
being  N.  80°  E.,  and  the  dip  southward.  Just  south  of  Fort 
Sao  Domingo  there  are  seen  veins  of  iron  ore  in  the  gneiss ; 
the  dip  is  about  45°  S.,  and  the  strike  about  N.  80°  E. 

I  have  carefully  examined  the  cuttings  on  the  Dom  Pedro 
II.  Railroad,  from  Belem,  at  the  southern  base  of  the  Serra 
do  Mar,  to  Ypiranga,  in  the  valley  of  the  Parahyba  do  Sul, 
and  I  have  studied  them  in  detail,  on  foot,  from  the  mouth 
of  the  great  tunnel,  which  pierces  the  crest  of  the  Serra, 
to  Ypiranga.  The  whole  ridge  is  composed  of  gneiss,  which 


THE   PROVINCE   OF  RIO   DE  JANEIRO.  15 

varies  very  much  in  character,  as  a  general  rule  being  dark 
gray  in  color,  well  laminated,  often  fine-grained  and  schis 
tose.  The  strike  varies,  according  to  my  observations,  from 
N.  45°  E.  to  N.  80°  E.,  and  the  mean  of  thirty-four  observa 
tions  of  strike  taken  along  the  road  from  the  southern  en 
trance  of  the  great  tunnel  to  the  Barra  do  Pirahy,  would 
give  N.  62°  E.*  The  dip  is  almost  invariably  northward 
from  Belem  to  the  Parahyba,  so  that  the  Serra  is  here  a 
monoclinal  ridge,  but  it  is  very  probable  that  the  same  strata 
are  repeated.  There  seems  to  have  been  much  dislocation  of 
the  strata,  and  faults  are  common.  In  some  cases  the  beds 
are  much  plicated,  though,  as  above  remarked,  the  general 
dip  is  remarkably  uniform.  Quartz  and  granite  veins  are 
very  numerous,  and  trap  dykes  are  not  uncommon.  At 
Ypiranga  is  a  thin  bed  of  crystalline  limestone,  which  is  ex 
posed  near  the  railway,  and  is  more  or  less  quarried  for 
burning  into  lime. 

The  Serra  dos  Orgaos  and  the  Serra  da  Estrella,  so  fre 
quently  described,  is  a  heavy  ridge  lying  at  the  head  of  the 
Bay  of  Rio,  and  belonging  to  the  Serra  do  Mar.  It  is  a  mag 
nificent  mountain  pile,  which,  to  the  east,  runs  up  into  a 
series  of  picturesque  aiguilles.  I  have  never  myself  visited 
the  Organs,  and  I  quote  Professor  Agassiz's  remarks  on  the 
structure  of  this  ridge.  He  says :  f  "  The  chain  is  formed  by 
the  sharp  folding  up  of  the  strata,  sometimes  quite  vertically, 
in  other  instances  with  a  slope  more  or  less  steep,  but  always 
rather  sudden.  To  one  standing  on  the  hill  to  the  east  of 
Theresopolis,  the  whole  range  presents  itself  in  perfect  profile ; 
the  axis,  on  either  side  of  which  dip  the  almost  vertical  beds 

*  Of  eight  reliable  observations  of  strike,  taken  in  the  vicinity  of  Rio,  the  mean 
is  N.  55°  30'  E. ;  but  these  observations  vary  from  N.  10°  E.  to  N.  80°  E. 
t  Journey  in  Brazil,  p.  491. 


GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 


THE   ORGANS. 


of  metamorphic  rocks  composing  the  chain,  occupies  about 
the  centre  of  the  range. 

"  To  the  north,  though  very  steeply  inclined,  the  beds  arc 
not  so  vertical  as  in  the  southern  prolongation  of  the  range. 
The  consequence  of  this  difference  is  the  formation  of  more 
massive  and  less  disconnected  summits  on  the  north  side, 
while  on  the  south  side,  where  the  strata  are  nearly  or  quite 
vertical,  the  harder  set  of  beds  alone  have  remained  stand 
ing,  the  softer  intervening  beds  having  been  gradually  disin 
tegrated.  By  this  process  have  been  formed  those  strange 
peaks  which  appear  from  a  distance  like  a  row  of  organ- 


THE   PROVINCE   OF  RIO  DE  JANEIRO.  17 

pipes,  and  have  suggested  the  name  by  which  the  chain  is 
known.  They  consist  of  vertical  beds,  isolated  from  the 
general  mass  in  consequence  of  the  disappearance  of  contig 
uous  strata.  The  aspect  of  these  mountains  from  Rio  is 
much  the  same  as  from  Theresopolis,  only  that  from  the 
two  points  of  view  —  one  being  to  the  northeast,  the  other 
to  the  southwest  of  the  range  —  their  summits  present  them 
selves  in  reverse  order.  When  seen  in  complete  profile, 
their  slender  appearance  is  most  striking.  Viewed  from  the 
side,  the  broad  surface  of  the  strata,  though  equally  steep, 
exhibits,  a  triangular  form  rather  than  that  of  vertical  col 
umns.  It  is  strange  that  the  height  of  the  Organ  Mountain 
peaks,  so  conspicuous  a  feature  in  the  landscape  of  Rio, 
should  not  have  been  accurately  measured.  The  only  pre 
cise  indication  I  have  been  able  to  find  is  recorded  by  Liais, 
who  gives  7,000  feet  as  the  maximum  height  observed  by 
him."  * 

"  These  abrupt  peaks  frequently  surround  closed  basins, 
very  symmetrical  in  shape,  but  without  any  outlet.  On 
account  of  this  singular  formation,  the  glacial  phenomena 
which  abound  in  the  Organ  Mountains  are  of  a  peculiar 
character."  f 

Pissis  |  has  described  the  Organs  in  very  much  the  same 

*  Gardner  makes  them  7,500  to  7,800  feet. 

t  Similar  aiguilles  are  common  elsewhere  on  the  coast  in  the  gneiss  belt,  and 
present  the  same  features  as  are  described  by  Professor  Agassiz.  I  may  cite 
here,  as  examples,  the  Trade  de  Macahe',  the  Pedra  Lisa  and  the  Garrafao,  near 
Itabapuana,  the  peaks  of  Itapemerim,  &c.,  all  of  which  I  shall  describe  here 
after. 

{  "  Le  leptinite  s'y  trouve  fortement  redresse'  et  presente  des  lames  colossales 
qui,  vues  de  Eio  de  Janeiro  dans  le  sens  de  leur  e'paisseur,  apparaissent  comme 
de  hautes  et  minces  aiguilles  place'es  les  unes  a  cote  des  autres  et  ressem- 
blant  assez  a  des  tuyaux  d'orgues."  —  M€m.  de  I'Inst.  de  France,  Tom.  X. 
p.  360. 

B 


18  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

terms  as  Agassiz.  The  same  author  calls  attention  to  the 
great  steepness  of  the  southern  slope  of  the  Organ  Moun 
tains,  and  speaks  of  the  little  streams  which,  precipitat 
ing  themselves  over  it,  are  visible,  as  I  can  testify,  from 
Rio, —  a  distance  of  more  than  thirty  miles,  —  appearing 
like  silvery  lines  drawn  down  the  blue  flank  of  the  Serra. 
The  needles  of  the  Organs  are  usually  represented  as  seen 
from  their  thinnest  side,  which  would  give  one  the  idea  that 
they  were  tower  or  chimney-like  masses.  Professor  Agassiz 
has  figured  one  of  the  most  noted  of  the  peaks  as  seen  in 
this  way.  Through  his  kindness  I  am  enabled  to  present  a 
side  view  of  the  same  peak,  from  a  photograph  in  his  posses 
sion.  The  views  of  the  Organs  in  Gardner's  Travels,  and  in 
the  majority  of  works  on  Brazil,  are  very  poor. 

The  gneiss  of  the  vicinity  of  Rio  and  of  the  Serra  do  Mar 
is  remarkably  unproductive  in  useful  minerals.  Indeed,  I 
do  not  know  of  any  mineral  deposits  of  economic  value  in 
the  region,  except  gold,  which  occurs  in  these  gneisses  in 
Sao  Paulo,  at  Cantagallo,  and  elsewhere,  but  not  very  abun 
dantly.  The  almost  entire  absence  of  limestone  is  remark 
able.  I  have  nowhere  seen  any  trace  of  graphite. 

The  Rio  Macacu  is  one  of  the  little  streams  entering  the 
Bay  of  Rio  near  its  northeastern  extremity.  The  whole  coun 
try  bordering  the  bay,  as  above  stated,  is  one  great  man 
grove  swamp,  and  from  the  mouth  of  the  river  to  the  Porto 
da  Villa  Nova  this  is  the  character  of  its  banks.  At  this 
place  the  soil  consists,  like  that  of  the  rest  of  the  swamp,  of 
a  soft,  dark-blue  mud,  or  clay,  containing  a  little  decomposed 
mica  in  silvery  flakes.  This  mud  at  Villa  Nova  is  twenty- 
four  feet  deep,  and  is  underlaid  by  sand  and  gravel  contain 
ing  recent  shells ;  but  farther  back  from  the  river,  as  might 
be  expected,  it  is  not  so  thick,  being  only  about  six  feet. 


THE   PROVINCE   OF   RIO  DE   JANEIRO.  19 

The  general  surface  of  the  country  here  is  perfectly  flat, 
and  only  about  one  foot  above  water  level  at  spring-tides. 
The  river  *  is  one  hundred  feet  wide  at  the  Porto,  but  it  is 
very  deep,  and  its  banks  are  bordered  with  rush-like  plants, 
—  the  quina,  a  plant  with  a  triangular  stem,  and  the  periperi, 
or  Brazilian  papyrus,  so  much  used  for  mats,  while  the 
swamps  are  covered  by  mangroves,  tapibuia  trees,  and 
a  dense  growth  of  plants,  such  as  love  the  salt  marshes. 

Leaving  the  river  at  Porto  da  Villa  Nova,  and  follow 
ing  along  the  extension  of  the  line  of  the  Cantagallo  Rail 
way,  one  soon  leaves  the  swamps,  and,  rising  a  few 
feet,  finds  himself  on  a  plain  of  coarse  white  sand,  in 
which  are  seen  exposed  in  excavations  an  abundance  of 
recent  shells,  like  those  which  lie  on  the  beaches  along 
the  bay,  Venus  flexuosa  being  especially  common.  These 
plains  are  sparsely  wooded,  and  support  a  vegetation 
quite  different  from  what  we  have  observed  in  the  swamps. f 
Conspicuous  among  the  trees,  or  rather  large  shrubs,  is 
the  pitangueira  (Eugenia),  noted  for  its  refreshingly  acid, 
red  fruit.  Bromeliaceous  plants  are  common,  together 
with  cactuses,  &c.  Where,  however,  a  soil  has  accumu- 

*  Burmeister  remarks  upon  the  coffee-brown  color  of  the  water  of  this  river. 
The  vicinity  is  very  unhealthy,  intermittent  fevers  of  a  typhoid  character  pre 
vailing. 

t  Spix  and  Martius  describe  a  similar  sand-plain  on  the  road  from  Rio  to 
the  Imperial  Fazenda  of  Santa  Cruz  :  "  On  the  way  hither  we  remarked 
a  stretch  of  ground  composed  of  coarse  dry  granite  sand.  The  low  but 
very  pleasing  wood  covering  it  resembled,  in  its  shining  green,  stiff  foliage, 
our  laurel  woods,  but,  as  a  token  of  the  tropical  climate,  it  was  charac 
terized  by  the  multiplicity  of  the  flower-forms."  The  same  authors  men 
tion  the  following  plants  as  occurring  on  this  ground  :  "  Schinus  Aroeira, 
terebinthifolia  Raddi ;  Pohlana  (Langsdorffia  Leandr.)  instrumentaria  Mart.; 
Spixia  fieteranthera  Leandr. ;  Dyrsonima  nitidissima  Humb. ;  Sapium  illcifolium 
W. ;  Ahodea  Physiphora  Mart. ;  Petroea  racemosa  Nees ;  Solena  grand! folia  ; 
Seriarue,  Paulinice,  sp.,  &c."  (Spix  and  Martius,  Reise,  Vol.  I.  p.  181.) 


20  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL    GEOGRAPHY. 

lated,  the  vegetation  assumes  the  dignity  of  a  forest  growth. 
Presently  we  come  upon  some  low  hillocks,  very  rounded  in 
their  outline,  which  stand  like  islands  in  the  sand-plain. 
Some  of  these  are  cut  through  by  the  railway,  and  we 
see  that  they  are  isolated  and  denuded  outliers  of  a  for 
mation  underlying  the  sands.  Rising  above  the  general 
level  of  the  sands,  they  are  bathed  by  them  round  about, 
like  islands.  Some  of  these  hillocks  are  composed  of  a  bed 
of  white  or  reddish  arenaceous  clay,  obscurely  stratified, 
like  a  kaolin  mixed  with  sand,  with  an  occasional  quartz 
pebble,  and  irregularly  tinged  by  yellow  or  red  ferric  oxide. 
Over  the  evenly  rounded  surface  of  this  clay  is  spread  a 
thin  sheet  of  quartz  pebbles,  generally  well  rounded,  fol 
lowing  all  the  sinuosities  of  the  surface  on  which  it  Jies, 
though  the  bed  varies  much  in  thickness.  Over  this  pebble 
sheet  is  a  concentric  coat  several  feet  thick,  of  a  perfectly 
structureless,  arenaceous  clay,  consisting  of  decomposed 
feldspar  and  fragments  of  quartz,  deeply  colored  by  ferric 
oxide,  and  resembling  the  unwashed  and  unassorted  pro 
duct  which  would  result  from  the  mechanical  trituration  of 
decomposed  gneiss,  with  a  mixture  of  the  clays  just  de 
scribed.  All  the  hillocks  were  covered  by  the  same  ma 
terial.  At  Porto  das  Caixas  we  rise  by  a  steep  incline 
some  thirty  feet,  more  or  less  (I  have  no  note  of  the  exact 
height),  to  a  level  plain  of  large  extent.  Cuttings  at 
the  railroad  depot  show  that  it  is  composed  of  a  horizontal 
deposit  of  the  same  tinted  sandy  clays  we  found  occupying 
the  centre  of  the  hillocks  just  described,  and  that  it  is  over 
laid  by  a  thick  bed  of  structureless  red  clay,  separated  from 
the  underlying  deposit  by  a  layer  of  quartz  pebbles.  Taking 
the  train,  we  go  westward  over  this  plain  some  ten  miles.* 

*  Being  unfurnished  with  a  reliable  map,  I  can  only  give  distances  ap 
proximately. 


THE   PROVINCE   OF   RIO   DE   JANEIRO.  21 

Part  of  it  is  dry  and  sparsely  wooded,  but  there  are  large 
areas  occupied  by  swamps,  in  which  grows  a  more  or 
less  luxuriant  swamp  vegetation,  —  a  dismal  scene,  present 
ing  sickly-looking  trees  loaded  with  orchids,  ferns,  and 
other  parasites,  and  draped  heavily  with  a  species  of  Til- 
landsia.  By  and  by  we  reach  the  end  of  a  spur  from  the 
Serra  do  Morro  Queimado,  and,  skirting  the  western  base  of 
the  hills,  gradually  ascend,  passing  from  the  plain  to  the 
gneiss  valley  of  the  Rio  Macacu,  and,  at  the  present  ter 
minus  of  the  railroad  at  Cachoeiras,  find  ourselves  in  a 
narrow  valley,  among  gneiss  hills,  at  the  foot  of  the  Serra 
do  Morro  Queimado,  an  eastward  continuation  of  the  Serra 
dos  Orgaos.  The  gneiss  here  is  of  the  same  general 
character  as  that  at  Rio.  An  observation  by  the  river 
side,  near  the  residence  of  Mr.  Williams,  the  superin 
tendent  of  the  railroad,  gave  the  strike  N.  70°  E.  The 
dip  was  vertical.  Garnets  were  very  abundant. 

On  examining  the  soil,  whether  high  up  on  the  slopes,  in 
the  hills,  or  elsewhere  in  the  numerous  cuttings  of  the  roads, 
&c.,  the  rock  is  seen  to  be  covered  by  the  same  red  clay 
that  we  have  observed  forming  the  surface-coating  of  the 
plain  at  Porto  das  Caixas ;  and  only  a  superficial  examina 
tion  of  the  intervening  country  is  necessary  to  show  that 
the  same  red  clay  covers,  not  only  the  clay  hillocks  of  the 
railway  extension  and  the  plains  described,  but  the  hills  also, 
descending  everywhere  to  the  level  of  the  sand-plain.  In 
addition,  it  is  to  be  seen  frequently  underlaid  by  an  irregu 
lar  sheet  of  quartz  pebbles,  and  it  very  often  contains  an 
gular  fragments  of  quartz  and  sometimes  masses  of  gneiss, 
though  these  last  are  rare.  It  is  absolutely  structureless, 
and,  much  as  it  may  resemble  the  stratified  clays  above  de 
scribed,  or  soft,  decomposed  gneiss,  it  needs  only  a  very  short 


22  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

experience  to  enable  one  to  distinguish  from  a  hand  specimen 
whether  it  be  one  or  the  other.  Generally  this  structure 
less  clay  is  deep  red  ;  but  on  the  surface  it  is  often  more 
or  less  yellowish.  The  following  ideal  section  illustrates 
the  geology  of  the  country  between  the  Bay  of  Rio  and  the 
Serra  do  Morro  Queimado,  along  the  route  over  which  we 
have  travelled. 


w 


SECTION  ALONG  THE  LINE  OF   THE   CANTAGALLO   RAILROAD. 

a.  Gneiss,  Eozoic. 

b.  Stratified  clays,  Tertiary.     (Drift,  Agassiz) 

c.  Drift. 

d.  Raised  beaches  with  recent  shells. 

e.  Modern  mud  deposit. 
f.  Bay  of  Rio. 

This  section  tells  a  very  clear  story.  Late  in  the  tertiary 
period,  long  after  the  hills  of  Rio  were  upheaved,  and  when 
the  country  stood  at  a  slightly  lower  level,  the  stratified 
clays  which  I  have  described  were  deposited  over  the 
whole  area  of  the  basin  of  the  Bay  of  Rio,  and  the  adjoin 
ing  flat  country.  These  were  afterward  upheaved,  most 
probably,  as  I  shall  attempt  to  show  hereafter,  to  a  much 
greater  height  than  at  present,  and  subjected  to  denudation 
by  water  and  glacial  action.  Owing  to  the  shape  of  the  basin 
and  the  great  number  of  streams  flowing  into  it,  as  well  as 
to  the  fact  that  it  must  have  been  the  focal  point  toward 
which  the  glaciers  of  the  encircling  hills  converged,  it  is  not 
to  be  wondered  at  that,  along  this  part  of  the  coast,  the  clays 
have  been  so  completely  denuded  and  swept  away,  leaving 
only  small  patches  fringing  the  shores  in  certain  somewhat 


THE   PROVINCE   OF  RIO  DE  JANEIRO.  23 

sheltered  positions.  It  seems  an  argument  in  favor  of  the 
prevalence  of  glacial  action  in  the  region,  that  the  denudation 
is  so  complete,  else  we  should  have  expected  to  find  the  sheet 
largely  cut  through  by  valleys,  leaving  more  numerous  outly 
ing  masses.  As  to  the  age  of  these  clays,  more  hereafter.  I 
have  referred  them  to  the  Tertiary,  though  Professor  Agassiz 
is  inclined  to  regard  them  as  drift.  The  superficial  red 
clay  deposit  I  believe,  with  Professor  Agassiz,  to  be  drift. 
The  stratified  sands  were  deposited  in  shallow  water  when 
the  sea  stood  only  a  few  feet  higher  than  at  present,  and 
they  have  been  elevated  by  a  recent  rise  of  the  coast,  —  a 
rise  which  I  believe  to  be  still  going  on.  The  recent  muds, 
now  accumulating  from  sediment  brought  down  by  the 
streams,  form  a  marshy  fringe  outside  the  raised  beaches. 
Having  introduced  the  reader  to  the  general  geological 
and  topographical  features  of  the  vicinity  of  Rio  de  Janeiro, 
let  us  now  examine  somewhat  closely  the  drift  phenomena 
observable  there.  In  the  following  remarks  I  have  pur 
posely  confined  myself  to  the  results  of  my  own  personal 
observations  made  during  extended  excursions  over  the 
country  near  Rio,  and  a  detailed  examination  of  every 
cutting  on  the  Dom  Pedro  II.  Railroad,  from  the  Great 
Tunnel  to  Ypiranga,  on  the  results  of  which  survey  I  have 
made  a  long  report  to  Professor  Agassiz.  In  connection 
with  this  subject  we  will  take  into  consideration  some 
of  the  topographical  elements  so  remarkable  in  the  hills 
of  Rio  and  the  Serra  do  Mar.  If  we  examine  the 
gneiss  hills  at  Rio  de  Janeiro  and  the  vicinity,  we 
find  that  they  are  invariably  covered,  where  the  slopes 
are  not  too  steep,  by  the  same  coat  of  red  soil  which 
we  have  observed  on  the  Cantagallo  Railroad.  This 
may  vary  more  or  less  in  the  coarseness  or  fineness  of 


24  GEOLOGY   AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

its  ingredients,  but  it  invariably  presents  everywhere  the 
same  general  character  of  a  sheet  of  structureless,  unar- 
ranged  material,  composed  of  ground-up  gneiss,  perfectly 
devoid  of  stratification,  and  always  of  a  deep  red  color  pass 
ing  into  yellow  near  the  surface,  especially  where  the 
material  is  sandy  and  light.  There  is  rarely  any  humus, 
because  the  decay  of  vegetable  matter  is  too  rapid  to  allow 
of  its  accumulating  as  a  soil,  as  in  northern  countries.  This 
clay  sheet  varies  in  thickness  from  a  few  feet  to  one  hun 
dred  ;  sometimes  it  is  stiff  and  bakes  very  hard,  in  other 
cases  it  is  more  sandy  and  light.  Usually  it  is  quite  free 
from  admixture  with  boulders,  but  sometimes  angular  frag 
ments  of  quartz  of  considerable  size  occur  in  it,  together  with 
rounded  or  angular  masses  of  gneiss  or  diorite.  The  latter 
rocks  are  almost  always  in  a  decomposed  state,  and,  except 
to  the  experienced  eye,  are  recognizable  only  in  fresh  cut 
tings.  Under  this  clay  one  sometimes  finds,  as  in  the  cut 
tings  at  Tijuca,  a  thin  layer  of  quartz  pebbles  like  that  seen 
on  the  Cantagallo  Railroad,  but  this  is  not  always  present. 
The  surface  of  the  gneiss  on  which  the  drift  rests  is  always 
moutonnee  and  remarkably  evenly  rounded  down,  and  the 
sheet  of  quartz  pebbles  lies  immediately  upon  it,  following 
all  its  curves ;  but  the  pebble  sheet  may  be  wanting  over 
large  areas,  or  vary  very  suddenly  and  irregularly  in  thick 
ness.  The  gneiss  in  situ  is  almost  invariably  decomposed 
beneath  the  drift  to  a  depth  varying  from  a  few  inches  to 
one  hundred  feet.  The  feldspar  has  been  converted  into 
clay,  the  mica  has  parted  with  its  iron,  &c.,  but  the  altered 
crystals  of  the  gneiss  still  occupy  their  relative  position 
with  reference  to  one  another.  The  planes  of  stratification 
are  well  marked,  and  the  veins  of  quartz,  though  cracked 
up,  remain  in  place. 


THE  PROVINCE   OF   EIO  DE   JANEIRO.  25 

This  extraordinary  decomposition  of  the  Brazilian  gneiss 
and  other  rocks  has  long  attracted  attention,  and  Darwin 
has  described  it  very  accurately  in  his  Geological  Observa 
tions.  He  was  of  the  opinion  that  it  had  taken  place  under 
the  sea  before  the  present  valleys  had  been  excavated.*  Pis- 
sis  also  described  it ;  but  it  appears  to  me  that  he  has  greatly 
over-estimated  the  depth  to  which  the  softening  of  the  rocks 
has  extended,  when  he  says  that,  in  the  gneiss  region  between 
Sao  Fidelis  and  the  Serra  dos  Orgaos,  the  gneiss  has  been 
decomposed  to  a  depth,  in  some  places,  of  300  metres !  !  f 

This  decomposition  results,  in  my  opinion,  from  the  ac 
tion  of  the  warm  rain-water  soaking  through  the  rock,  and 
carrying  with  it  carbonic  acid,  derived  not  only  from  the 
air,  but  from  the  vegetation  decaying  upon  the  soil,  together 
with  organic  acids,  nitrate  of  ammonia,  &c.  I  believe  that 
the  remarkable  decomposition  of  the  rocks  in  Brazil  has 
taken  place  only  in  regions  anciently,  or  at  present,  covered 
by  forest.  Heusser  and  Claraz  have  suggested  that  it  is 
aided  by  nitric  acid.  They  say :  "  It  is,  without  doubt,  de 
termined  by  the  violence  and  frequency  of  the  tropical  rains, 
and  by  the  dissolving  action  of  water,  which  increases  with 
the  temperature.  It  is  necessary  to  observe,  moreover,  that 
this  water  contains  some  nitric  acid,  on  account  of  the  thun 
der-storms  which  follow  each  other  with  great  regularity 
during  many  months  of  the  year."  | 

Professor  Agassiz  has    discussed   this   subject   at   some 

*  Darwin,  Geological  Observations,  p.  144. 

t  Pissis,  Mem.  de  I'Inst.  de  France,  Tom.  X.  p.  358.  It  is  well  to  remember 
tbat,  before  the  glacial  origin  of  the  clays  overlying  the  decomposed  rock  was 
pointed  out  by  Professor  Agassiz,  the  thickness  of  these  clays  was  included 
in  the  estimate  of  the  depth  to  which  the  decomposition  had  taken  place. 

J  MM.  Ch.  Heusser  and  G.  Claraz,  Ann.  des  Mines,  5m<  Serie,  Me'm.,  Tom. 
XVII.  p.  291. 

VOL.   i.  2 


26  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

length  in  the  Journey  in  Brazil,  his  opinion  being  that  the 
softening  of  the  rock  is  due  to  the  action  of  warm  rain-water. 
It  has  been  objected  to  this  theory  that  the  stone  employed 
in  Brazil  for  building  purposes  endures  remarkably  well, 
showing,  after  the  lapse  of  centuries,  very  little  change. 
This  argument,  in  my  opinion,  is  of  very  little  weight,  for 
a  smooth,  naked  surface  from  which  the  water  runs  off 
rapidly,  and  which  is,  the  greater  part  of  the  time,  dry,  is 
placed  under  conditions  very  different  from  those  of  the 
gneiss  overspread  by  a  thick  coating  of  wet  drift  paste, 
and  constantly  soaked  with  water. 

Brazil  is  not  the  only  country  in  which  the  rocks  have 
softened  to  a  great  depth.  The  same  phenomenon  has  been 
observed  in  the  Southern  States  of  the  Union  and  in  India.* 
I  have  seen  gneiss  decomposed  to  a  depth  of  several  feet  in 
the  vicinity  of  New  York. 

When  the  gneiss  is  fine-grained,  homogeneous,  and  not 
distinctly  stratified,  it  is  often  difficult  to  distinguish  the 
rock  decomposed  in  situ  from  the  drift ;  but  the  line  of 
demarcation  between  the  two,  even  when  not  marked  by 
the  pebble  sheet,  is  usually  easily  distinguishable  even  in 
old  cuttings.  The  slope  of  a  railway  cutting  is  apt  to  gully 
out  along  the  line  of  junction  of  the  drift  and  the  underly 
ing  decomposed  rock.  This  line  is  invariably  gently  undu 
lating,  and  one  never  sees  jagged  edges  of  strata  or  angular 
masses  projecting  upward  into  the  drift. 

Professor  Agassiz  has  spoken  of  the  valley  of  Tijuca  below 
Bennett's  as  a  locality  where  the  drift  is  very  beautifully 
exhibited.  The  mountain  mass  of  Tijuca  is  separated  from 
the  mass  of  the  Corcovado  group  by  the  pass  of  Boa  Vista, 

*  Dr.  Benza  says  that  in  the  Ncelgherries  granite  is  sometimes  decomposed 
to  a  depth  of  forty  feet.  (Madras  Journal  of  Literature,  &c.,  Oct.  1836,  p.  246.) 


THE   PROVINCE   OF  RIO   DE  JANEIRO.  27 

which  is  about  1,000  feet  above  the  sea.  Eastward  runs 
the  valley  of  Andarahy  downward  toward  the  city,  while 
to  the  westward  one  descends  a  most  romantic  valley  to 
a  great  alluvial  plain,  in  a  sort  of  bay  or  amphitheatre 
among  the  hills.  This  valley,  occupied  by  a  tumbling 
mountain  stream,  descends  very  rapidly,  ending  abruptly 
below  the  Cascate  Grande  at  some  height  above  the  plain. 


THE   CASCATINHA    AT   TIJUCA. 


Minor  valleys  from  Tijuca  and  the  mountains  to  the 
south  descend  and  join  this  valley.  At  Bennett's  the  drift 
clay  is  full  of  boulders  of  quartz,  gneiss,  and  greenstone. 
If  we  ascend  the  brook  which  flows  through  Mr.  Bennett's 


28  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

fazenda  for  a  few  rods,  we  shall  find  that  it  has  cut  its  bed 
through  the  general  clay  sheet  which  everywhere  covers 
the  hills,  and  it  is  perfectly  easy  to  see  that  this  sheet  is  in 
no  place  a  deposit  thrown  down  by  the  brook.  This  loose 
material  consists  of  a  brownish  or  reddish  earth  without  the 
slightest  signs  of  stratification,  in  which  are  buried  boulders 
of  gneiss,  usually  rounded  and  of  many  qualities,  together 
with  rounded  masses  of  quartz. 


SECTION   OF   DRIFT  AT   BENNETT'S,   TIJUCA. 

At  c  is  a  very  large  boulder  of  homogeneous,  unlaminated, 
fine-grained  gneiss,  from  around  which  the  drift  has  been 
washed  away,  and  this  rests  on  a  mass,  in  situ,  of  gneiss 
coarsely  crystallized  (porphyritic)  and  well  laminated.  At 
e  we  see  the  gneiss  in  situ,  much  decomposed,  and  laid  bare 
in  a  cutting. 

The  solid  gneiss  beds  are  well  seen  in  the  bed  of  the 
brook,  and  the  rock  is  generally  quite  coarse  and  porphyritic 
in  structure.  I  find  a  note  of  a  strike  N.  55°  W.,  which,  from 
the  generally  uniform  northeastward  strike  seen  elsewhere, 
might  be  suspected  to  be  an  incorrect  observation  ;  but  at 
the  bridge,  a  little  farther  down  the  brook,  I  found  the 
strike  to  be  N.  10°  "W.  If  we  follow  down  the  valley  we 
shall  find  the  soil  full  of  boulders,  and  some  of  these  are 
many  feet  in  diameter. 

As  we  descend  the  valley  still  further  these  boulders  are 
seen  lying  bare,  not  only  in  the  brook  where  the  water  has 
washed  away  the  loose  material,  but  on  the  hillsides.  I 


THE   PROVINCE   OF  RIO  DE  JANEIRO.  29 

think  that  no  geologist  familiar  with  drift  phenomena,  who 
should  suddenly  find  himself  in  this  valley,  would  have  even 
the  slightest  suspicion  of  their  being  anything  else  than  the 
most  ample  testimony  of  the  former  prevalence  of  glacial 
action  over  the  region ;  yet,  in  the  beginning  of  his  drift 
studies  in  Brazil,  he  is  almost  sure  to  commit  some 
gross  blunders,  for  it  is  not  even  a  general  rule  that  the 
loose  boulders  found  on  the  surface  are  erratics.  On  my 
first  visit  to  Tijuca,  very  soon  after  my  arrival  in  Brazil,  and 
after  Professor  Agassiz  had  announced  the  discovery  of 
drift  at  Rio,  I  was  struck  with  the  appearance  of  some 
trap  masses  on  a  hillside  near  Bennett's,  which  looked  re 
markably  like  erratics  ;  but  a  close  study  of  them  satisfied 
me  that  they  resulted  from  the  surface  decomposition  of 
a  great  trap  dyke.  Not  descending  far  enough  into  the 
valley,  and  satisfying  myself  that  a  great  proportion  of  the 
gneiss  masses  that  I  examined  at  the  time  were  not  erratics, 
I  came  most  decidedly  to  the  conclusion  that  the  surface 
deposits  of  Rio  were  not  drift,  but  were  in  some  way  due  to 
the  decomposition  of  the  rock,  as  had  been  heretofore  sup 
posed.  I  desire  to  record  here  the  fact,  that  I  began  my 
studies  of  the  Brazilian  drift  with  a  conviction  that  Pro 
fessor  Agassiz  was  wrong,  and  I  feel  much  gratified  that 
my  independent  observations  have  so  fully  confirmed  the 
results  of  his  own.  If  one  descends  the  valley  towards  the 
Cascate  Grande,  he  will  see  that  the  valley  is  heaped  with  a 
confusion  of  immense  boulders  tumbled  one  upon  another  ; 
masses  of  greenstone,  weighing  hundreds  of  tons,  piled  up 
with  those  of  gneiss  of  all  qualities.  Where  these  are  bare 
they  are  always  rounded,  as  is  seen  in  the  engraving,  but  I 
believe  that  this  is  referable,  to  a  very  large  extent,  to  a 
concentric  and  even  decomposition  of  the  surface ;  but 


GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 


BOULDEIiS   AT   TIJUCA. 


there  is  no  resisting  the  conclusion  that  we  have  here  a 
morainic  deposit  from  a  glacier  which  anciently  occupied  the 
valley.  The  above  woodcut  is  from  a  stereograph  published 
by  Leuzinger  at  Rio,  and  represents  the  boulder  masses  above 
the  Cascate  Grande.  Descending  to  the  plain  below  the 
Cascate,  wrhich  is  also  seen  in  the  woodcut,  one  traces  the 
drift  clays  and  boulders  quite  down  to  the  plain,  when  they 
end  abruptly,  and  the  flat  lands  are  seen  to  be  of  alluvial 
origin  resting  on  sea  sands,  of  the  same  age  as  the  sands  of 
Paqueta  and  the  Cantagallo  Railroad  extension.  One  can 
not  find  in  the  plain,  nor  did  I  ever  see  anywhere  on  the 
beach  sands,  either  drift  clays  or  boulders. 


THE   PROVINCE   OF  RIO  DE  JANEIRO. 


31 


Returning  to  the  Dom  Pedro  II.  Railroad,  we  may  trace 
the  drift  sheet  everywhere  from  Belem  to  the  Barra  do 
Pirahy,  over  the  whole  Serra  do  Mar ;  and  one  may  here 
study  its  structure  in  the  most  detailed  way.  From  Bclem 
to  the  Parahyba  River  the  same  red  clay  entirely  covers 
the  surface,  lying  even  on  very  high  slopes.  Nowhere  is 
there  the  slightest  sign  of  stratification,  and  it  is  sharply 
defined  from  the  alluvial  deposits  of  the  river.  The  same 
pebble  sheet  is  seen  almost  everywhere,  though  in  cutting 
after  cutting  it  may  sometimes  be  wanting.  Boulders  are 
rare,  and  are  almost  invariably  so  decomposed  as  to  be 
seen  only  in .  fresh  cuttings.  The  rock  on  which  the  drift 
rests  is  always  smoothly  and  evenly  rounded  down.  The 
following  diagram  will  illustrate  the  structure  of  one  of 
the  gneiss  hillocks  of  the  Serra  do  Mar. 


IDEAL,   SECTION  OF   DRIFT-COVERED    GNEISS   HILL. 

a  a.  Drift  clay. 

ff.  Angular  fragments  of  quartz. 

b  b.  Pebble  sheet  lying  on  rounded  surface  of  gneiss. 

d  d.  Gneiss  in  gitu,  but  decomposed. 

e  e.  Gneiss  undecomposed. 

g  ff.  Quartz  and  granite  veins  traversing  both  solid  and  decomposed  gneiss. 

Among  the   first  elements   in   the    Brazilian   mountain 
scenery   which   attract  the   attention   of  the   observer   on 


32  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

approaching  the  coast  near  Rio  are  the  bare  rock  slopes 
which,  instead  of  forming  ragged  precipices,  as  in  northern 
latitudes,  are  most  remarkably  smooth,  and  devoid  of  irregu 
larities  ;  and  these  surfaces,  where  the  rock  is  homogeneous 
in  texture,  usually  have  a  high  slope,  and  frequently  de 
scend  and  dip  beneath  the  sea  level,  the  sea  washing  over 
their  even  faces.*  Sometimes  the  top  of  a  hill  is  bare, 
evenly  moulded,  and  round,  or  a  rounded  boss  projects 
from  the  side  of  a  hill.  These  smooth  cliifs  and  rock-slopes 
are  heavily  striped  above  the  sea  by  broad  lines  drawn  down 
their  faces,  blackened  by  a  sort  of  cryptogamic  growth ; 
so  that  these  slopes,  of  a  rich,  rather  purplish,  black  tint, 
show  very  strangely,  especially  when  set  into  the  mantle  of 
verdure  which  covers  the  hills.  Of  this  character  are  the 
bare  mass  of  the  Sugar-loaf,  the  precipices  of  the  Corcovado, 
and  the  steep  slopes  of  hundreds  of  hills  in  the  vicinity. 
Approaching  nearer  to  one  of  these  slopes,  we  find  that  its 
surface  is  often  scored  by  a  system  of  little  rain-courses, 
and  is  covered  by  cactuses  and  bromeliaceous  plants. 

The  Pedra  Bonita  is  a  bare  mass  of  rock  opposite  the 
Gavia,  but  not  so  high.  It  is  partly  surrounded  by  almost 
vertical  slopes,  and  on  top,  over  a  large  area,  is  bare  and 
rounded  off.  Here,  though  one  may  observe  the  same 
thing  elsewhere,  the  way  in  which  this  rounding  and 
smoothing  down  of  the  rock  is  produced  may  be  studied, 
and  one  is  soon  forced  to  believe,  that,  whatever  the  gla 
ciers  may  have  contributed  to  the  shaping  of  the  topo- 

*  These  evenly  rounded,  wave-washed  rock  slopes  are  very  interesting,  and 
have  already  been  called  attention  to  by  Darwin  (Geological  Observations,  p. 
144).  Such  slopes  may  be  seen  not  only  on  the  shores  of  the  quiet  bays,  but 
exposed  to  the  full  wash  of  the  Atlantic  waves,  as  at  the  mouth  of  the  Bay  of 
Rio  and  elsewhere.  In  describing,  farther  on,  the  Bay  of  Espirito  Santo,  I  shall 
show  how  these  wave-washed  slopes  originate. 


THE   PROVINCE   OF   RIO  DE  JANEIRO.  33 

graphical  features  of  the  country,  the  general  moulding  of 
the  hills  has  been  due  primarily  to  subaerial  denudation. 
The  gneiss  of  the  Pedra  Bonita  is  decomposing.  Where  the 
rock  is  level  the  decomposed  feldspar,  <fec.  has  been  washed 
away  by  the  rain,  and  we  have  the  rock  covered  by  a  thin 
coating  of  loose  quartz  grains,  which  I  hardly  need  say  are 
angular.  Where  there  is  a  decided  slope,  the  loose  sand  is 
washed  or  blown  away.  The  rock  itself  is  much  softened 
on  the  surface,  and,  to  a  considerable  depth,  the  feldspar 
has  been  more  or  less  altered.  This  semi-decomposed  layer 
forms  a  concentric  coat  over  the  whole  rock.  Sometimes 
this  is  continuous  and  unbroken,  but  if  the  area  exposed  be 
large,  we  usually  find  that  there  is  a  tendency  for  it  to  sep 
arate  itself  from  the  undecomposed  rock  below,  and  to 
crack  up.  Sometimes  this  layer  is  only  a  few  inches  in 
thickness,  in  others  it  may  be  several  feet.  When  the 
surface  is  horizontal,  or  nearly  so,  the  tendency  is  for  it 
to  break  up  finally  into  small  angular  pieces,  which,  wasting 
away  and  rounding  down  by  decomposition,  cover  the  rock 
with  loose,  boulder-like  masses,  or  are  entirely  removed, 
leaving  a  smooth,  unencumbered  surface.  If  the  slope  be 
very  steep  or  vertical,  the  decomposed  mass  may  fall  or  slide 
off.  On  very  steep  slopes,  as  those  of  the  Sugar-loaf,  Cor- 
covado,  Morro  de  Santa  Theresa,  and  elsewhere,  this  sheet 
scales  off  and  falls,  breaking  up  belowT.  The  Brazilian  gneiss 
cliffs  rarely  have  a  talus  of  broken  fragments  at  their  base. 
The  decomposition  going  on  evenly  all  over  their  face  gives 
only  sand  and  clay,  washed  down  by  the  rains  and  distrib 
uted  over  the  earthy  slope  below,  and  the  half-decomposed 
fragments  soften  and  finally  decompose  entirely.  One  must 
be  very  careful  in  examining  a  cutting  that  runs  under  a  high 
cliff,  for  the  earth  resulting  from  the  decomposition  of  the 

2*  C    . 


34 


GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 


face  of  the  cliff  resembles  more  or  less  the'  drift-earth  spread 
over  the  surface  of  the  ground.  Oftentimes  a  mass  of 
half-decomposed  rock  separates  itself  from  the  face  of  the 
cliff  in  a  great  lenticular  sheet.  This  may  crack  across 
horizontally,  particularly  if  the  plane  of  stratification  cuts 
the  surface  of  the  cliff  in  this  way,  and  the  lower  half  may 
drop  off,  leaving  an  overhanging  portion  attached  to  the 
cliff.  One  may  observe  hanging  masses  of  this  kind  at 
tached  to  the  precipice  of  the  Sugar-loaf  and  Corcovado, 
and  in  innumerable  other  gneiss  localities.  If  we  exam 
ine  one  of  the  rounded  gneiss  hills,  —  as,  for  instance,  one 
of  those  just  behind  the  Dom  Pedro  II.  Hospital  at  Bota- 
fogo,  where  part  of  the  hill  is  bare  and  steep,  —  looking 
at  the  hill  in  a  cross-section,  we  may  observe  that  the  gen 
eral  rounded  curves  of  the  drift-covered  portion  are  quite 
out  of  harmony  with  those  of  the  bare  portions,  which  are 
usually  flatter,  and  we  may  further  notice  that  the  very  steep 
slopes  or  precipices  are  usually  on  the  side  of  the  hill  away 
from  which  the  strata  dip.  This  is  the  case  on  both  sides 
of  the  Botafogo  valley.  In  the  following  diagram  I  have 
tried  to  represent  the  difference  in  moulding  between  a 
glaciated  surface  and  that  of  one  of  these  bare  cliffs. 


DIAGRAM   TO   SHOW    CONTRAST   IN   MOULDING    BETWEEN   DRIFT-COVERED    AND 
BARE   SURFACES. 


THE  PROVINCE   OF  EIO   DE   JANEIRO.  35 

The  outline  of  the  drift-covered  portion  of  the  hill,  a  b, 
has  been  unchanged  since  the  drift ;  for  though  the  rock  has 
been  protected  by  the  drift,  the  gneiss  has  decomposed,  but 
has  remained  in  situ.  Over  the  face,  b  c,  the  decomposi 
tion  has  gone  on  also ;  but  since  the  slope  has  not  been 
protected,  it  has  worn  constantly  backwards,  growing  grad 
ually  more  regular  in  outline  as  each  new  decomposed  coat 
was  thrown  off.  If  one  will  take  the  pains  to  examine 
the  curves  resulting  from  the  decomposition  of  bare  sur 
faces,  and  those  which  result  from  decomposition  where, 
as  under  a  drift-sheet,  the  decomposed  rock  remains  in  sitti, 
he  will  be  convinced  that  the  moulding  of  the  surface  of  the 
gneiss  on  which  the  drift  rests  is  of  an  altogether  different 
character  from  that  resulting  from  simple  subaerial  denu 
dation. 

The  sands  containing  recent  shells  along  the  Bay  of  Rio, 
and  elsewhere,  and  which  rise  to  the  height  of  a  few  feet 
above  high-water  mark,  bespeak  a  recent  elevation  of  the 
coast,  as  has  been  observed  independently  by  his  Majesty  the 
Emperor,  Dr.  Capanema,*  and  myself;  but  there  are  other 
proofs  of  the  same  upheaval  in  the  holes  excavated  by  sea- 
urchins,  which  are  found  in  the  vicinity,  in  many  places 
many  feet  above  high-water  mark. 

The  islands  of  Maricas  lie  a   few   miles   off  the   coast 

*  Dr.  G.  S.  de  Capanema  has  written  more  or  less  on  the  geology  of  Brazil. 
One  of  his  papers  mentioned  by  Burton  bears  the  title,  "  Decomposifao  dos 
Penedos  no  Brasil,"  and  was  published  at  Rio  in  1866.  I  am  very  sorry  that  I 
have  never  seen  any  of  the  papers  of  this  geologist,  who  has  travelled  very  ex 
tensively  over  the  Empire.  I  know  of  his  work  only  through  quotations  or 
references.  From  a  MS.  of  Major  Coutinho,  placed  in  my  hands  by  Professor 
Agassiz,  I  should  infer  that  Dr.  Capanema  is  a  disbeliever  in  the  glacial  origin 
of  the  surface  deposits  claimed  by  Professor  Agassiz  and  myself  to  be  drift,  and 
that  he  rather  considers  them  to  be  the  result  of  decomposition  alone. 


36  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

between  Rio  and  Cape  Frio.  They  are  composed  of 
gneiss  in  beds  of  unequal  hardness,  and  a  most  excellent 
opportunity  is  afforded  for  the  comparison  of  glaciated 
rock  surfaces  and  surfaces  denuded  by  subaerial  decom 
position,  or  wave  action.  The  general  surface  of  the  isl 
ands  is  rounded,  and  is  covered  by  drift  clay.  Some  bare 
rocks  are  evenly  rounded,  but  along  the  shore,  \vhere  the 
waves  beat,  the  softer  beds  are  worn  away  more  deeply  than 
the  hard  ones,  and  the  surface  is  very  irregular.  On  the 
rocks  a  species  of  Echinometra  (E,  Michelini  Desor),  a  sea- 
urchin  with  moderately  long,  dark-purple  spines,  is  very  com 
mon,  living  in  a  zone  extending  downwards  from  some  dis 
tance  below  high-water  mark.  Here  they  are  found,  each  in  a 
cup-shaped  depression  worn  in  the  rock,  and  in  some  places 
the  rock  is  fairly  honeycombed  on  the  surface  by  their 
"  nests."  Above  the  zone  of  living  sea-urchins  the  nests 
are  found,  but  they  are  empty,  and  in  protected  localities, 
as,  for  instance,  in  narrow  openings  between  rocks,  they 
may  be  observed  to  extend  to  a  height  of  several  feet  above 
high-water  level,  showing  that  the  elevation  of  the  coast  has 
been  very  recent.  I  have  observed  that  the  nests  appear 
less  and  less  well  preserved  the  higher  we  examine  them, 
which  has  convinced  me  that  the  upheaval  has  been  a 
gradual  one,  and  I  believe  that  it  is  still  in  progress. 

The  coast  between  Rio  and  Cape  Frio  is,  for  a  large  part, 
high  and  exceedingly  picturesque.  Many  of  the  hills  are 
bare  and  strangely  shaped.  The  following  sketch  represents 
the  coast  as  seen  from  near  the  island  of  Maricas.  To  the 
left  are  the  hills  of  Rio. 

Long  sea-beaches  stretching  across  bays  formed  by  the 
hills  have  formed  lagoons  along  this  coast,  and  the  low 
grounds  between  the  mouth  of  Rio  and  Ponta  Negra 


THE  PROVINCE   OF  EIO   DE   JANEIRO. 


37 


COAST  JUST  EAST  OF   EIO. 

are  largely  occupied  by  swamps  and  lagoons.  Of  the  latter 
the  most  notable  is  the  Lagoa  de  Marica,  which  is  some  six 
miles  long,  salt,  and  separated  from  the  sea,  like  the  LagQa  de 
Freitas,  by  a  sand-beach,  through  which  the  inhabitants  are 
obliged  occasionally  to  cut,  in  order  to  give  passage  to  the 
waters  of  the  lake  during  times  of  freshets.  This  lake,  as 
well  as  the  Others  along  this  coast,  is  extraordinarily  rich 
in  fish. 

A  sandy  shore  extends  from  west  to  east  from  Ponta 
Negra  to  Cape  Frio.  "  It  may  be  eight  or  ten  leagues  wide 
from  the  sea  to  the  cordilheira,  being  roughened  in  this  in 
terval  by  several  serras,  and  occupied  in  parts  by  various 
lagoas.  All  the  flat  part  of  this  plain  is  useless  for  agricul 
tural  purposes  on  account  of  the  depth  of  the  sand,  and  its 
being  overflowed  a  part  of  the  year."  *  This  low  country  ap 
pears  to  extend  along  the  Rios  Sao  Joao  and  Una  to  the 
sea  north  of  Cape  Frio. 

Lagoa  Saquarema  is  a  large  lake  lying  east  of  Ponta  Ne 
gra,  and  separated  from  the  sea,  like  the  Lagua  Marica,  by  a 
sand  strip.  "  It  is  three  (Portuguese)  miles  long,  and  three 

*  Diccionario  Geografico,  art.  Marica.  This  work  is  a  mere  compilation, 
and  is  full  of  inaccuracies.  In  quoting  from  it  I  have  done  so  with  much  care. 


38  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

quarters  of  a  league  in  its  greatest  width.  It  is  salt,  full  of 
fish,  and  separated  from  the  sea  by  a  narrow  tract  of  sandy 
ground.  When  the  adjoining  plains  begin  to  be  covered 
by  the  floods  of  the  streams  which  empty  into  it,  the  inhab 
itants  of  the  vicinity  open  an  outlet  to  the  ocean  at  the 
eastern  extremity,  which  remains  an  unfordable  river  during 
the  winter,  at  the  end  of  which  the  surf  closes  it  up."  * 

Lag6a  Araruama  is  a  narrow  strip  of  salt  water  about 
twenty  miles  long,  and  with  a  varying  width,  in  some  places 
several  miles,  lying  on  the  coast  west  of  Cape  Frio,  and 
separated  from  the  sea  by  a  narrow  strip  of  sand  thrown 
up  by  the  waves.  Cazal  says  f  that  "  it  empties  itself 
from  its  eastern  extremity  by  a  canal  twenty-six  bra^as 
large  at  its  mouth,  which  is  situated  at  a  distance  of  a 
league  and  a  half  north  of  Cape  Frio.  Notwithstanding 
that  a  number  of  streams  empty  into  it,  its  waters  are  salted 
by  the  communication  which  they  have  witlf  the  ocean. 
The  tide  makes  itself  felt  as  far  as  Ponta  Grossa,  which  is 
situated  at  about  its  middle.  Thence  westward  the  waters 
go  with  the  winds.  It  abounds  in  fish  of  various  kinds. 
In  some  parts  it  is  many  brac,as  in  depth, J  in  others 
one  may  wade  from  one  shore  to  the  other."  Milliet  says 
that  "  between  the  sea,  the  city,  and  the  Lake  Ararauma 
are  natural  salines,  which  were  prohibited  by  royal  letters 
on  the  26th  of  February,  1690,  and  18th  of  January,  1691, 
the  Portuguese  government  intending  thereby  to  favor  the 

*  Coroyrafia  Brazilian,  Tom.  II.  p.  38.  This  old  work  by  Cazal,  published  in 
1818,  is  very  much  more  reliable  than  the  Diccionario  Geografico. 

t  Corografia  Brazilica,  Tom.  II.  p.  38. 

|  Prinz  Max.  zu  Neu-Wied,  Reise  nach  BrasHien,  1"  Band,  85"  Seite.  "  "Wir 
fauden  das  Wasser  der  Lagoa  von  geringer  Tiefe  und  so  klar,  dass  wir 
den  weissen  Sandboden  des  Grundes  mit  seinen  Korallengewiichsen  deutlich 
wahniehmen  kormten ;  bci  der  gcringen  Tiefe  sassen  wir  oft  fest." 


THE   PROVINCE   OF   EIO  DE   JANEIRO.  39 

commerce  of  salt  of  its  own  European  possessions.  Not 
withstanding  the  royal  decrees,  Domingos  da  Silva  Ribeiro, 
judge-in-ordinary  of  this  city,  ordered,  in  1768,  that  the 
communication  between  Lake  Araruama  and  the  salines  of 
Mac,abamba  be  closed,  and  in  the  following  year  the  above 
salines  furnished  in  six  months  50,000  alqueires  of  salt." 

Cape  Frio  is  the  name  given  to  the  southernmost  point  of 
a  high,  precipitous  gneiss  island,  situated  at  the  angle  where 
the  coast  line,  coming  eastward  from  Rio,  bends  northward 
toward  Cape  Sao  Thomd.  It  is  only  about  three  miles  long, 
very  irregular  in  outline,  and  is  almost  divided  into  two 
parts.  The  northern  is,  according  to  Mouchez,  394  metres 
in  altitude.  A  lighthouse  was  erected  on  this  point,  but  it 


CAPE  FRIO. 


proved  to  be  at  too  great  a  height,  being  above  the  level  of 
the  clouds,  so  that  it  had  to  be  abandoned.  The  present 
lighthouse  is  situated  at  a  lower  level  on  the  southern  point. 
The  island  is  separated  from  the  main-land  by  a  narrow 
but  rather  deep  channel.  The  land  opposite  consists  of  a 
group  of  gneiss  hills,  formerly  islands,  which  have  been 
united  together  by  sand  beaches  and  sand  plains,  which 
extend  northwestward,  joining  the  beach  of  Mac,ambam- 
ba,  or  Massambamba,  and  running  northward  to  the  Rio 
Itajuru. 


40  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

Between  the  city  of  Cape  Frio  and  Os  Buzios  the  coast  is 
very  irregular  in  outline,  rather  low,  with  small  gneiss  hills 
along  the  shore,  forming  occasional  rocky  promontories 
which  are  united  by  curving  sea-beaches.  I  find  in  my 
notes  the  query  whether  the  low  flat  lands  seen  from  the  sea 
may  not  be  Tertiary.  Towards  Armagao  the  coast  is  bor 
dered  by  low  gneiss  hills,  which,  owing  to  the  northwest 
(landward)  dip  of  the  rocks,  and  the  correspondence  of 
their  strike  with  the  general  trend  of  the  coast,  as  well  as 
from  the  way  in  which  they  have  been  worn  by  the  waves, 
present  to  the  sea  perpendicular,  rugged  cliffs  of  no  great 
altitude.  Along  this  coast  are  quite  a  number  of  little 
rocky  islets  of  gneiss. 

At  Os  Buzios  *  the  coast  line  suddenly  bends  off  to  the 
northwestward,  and  runs  towards  Sao  Joao,  when  it  curves 
round  and  sweeps  off  with  a  northeast  trend  to  Cape  Sao 
Thome*.  The  gneiss  shows  itself  on  the  shore  of  the  point 
just  east  of  the  town.  It  is  well  laminated,  much  plicated, 
and  has  a  general  low  dip  to  the  northwestward.  The 
gneiss  of  the  point  on  the  western  side  of  the  town  has  very 
much  the  same  character.  The  gneiss  behind  the  town 
seems  to  be  overlaid  by  tertiary  clays,  which  show  them 
selves  in  the  point  west  of  the  town ;  but  I  had  no  opportu 
nity  of  examining  them  with  much  care.  They  are  so  much 
denuded  that  they  are  not  easily  recognizable  by  topograph- 

*  Os  Buzios  takes  its  name  from  its  richness  in  shells.  Among  the  species  I 
collected  there  were  Cassis  Madagascariensis  and  Cyprcca  exanthema.  Woodward 
in  his  Manual  says  that  no  Cyprseas  occur  on  the  Brazilian  coast.  Cypraea 
exanthema  is  not  at  all  rare,  and  occurs  also  at  Bahia,  where  I  have  found  an 
other  little  species  in  great  abundance.  Several  species  of  corals  occur  at  Os 
Buzios  ;  Mil/epora  akicornis  is  especially  abundant,  and  the  rocks  are  covered 
with  patches  of  the  common  Palijthoa,  together  with  a  Zoanthus  with  an  emer 
ald  disk,  common  elsewhere  on  the  coast. 


THE  PKOYINCE   OF  RIO  DE  JANEIRO.  41 

ical  features  alone.  There  is  a  small  hill  just  east  of  the 
village  which  bears  a  little  church.  It  is  cut  away  on  the 
shore  by  the  waves,  and  forms  a  little  bluff  composed  of 
rounded  quartz  pebbles  derived  from  the  rocks  of  the 
vicinity,  cemented  together  loosely  by  a  soft,  greenish 
clay.  I  have  seen  nothing  like  it  elsewhere.  Westward 
of  Os  Buzios  is  quite  a  range  of  gneiss  hills,  lying  between 
the  head- waters  of  the  Rios  Garcia  and  Trapiche.  The 
shore  beyond  the  rocky  point  west  of  Os  Buzios  appears,  for 
some  distance,  to  be  tertiary,  but  there  are  some  patches 
of  recent  sands.  These  deposits  appear  to  terminate  on  the 
shore  with  a  bright  red  cliff,  very  conspicuous  from  a 
distance,  when  the  tertiary  bluffs  recede  from  the  coast, 
and  a  sandy  flat,  backed  by  low  plains,  extends  on  to  the 
gneiss  hills  of  the  Serra  de  Sao  Joao.  Thence  to  Macahe 
much  of  the  shore  is  low,  with  stretches  of  tertiary  clays, 
more  or  less  denuded,  and  gneiss  hills.  North  of  Macahd 
the  tertiary  plains  soon  recede  from  the  coast  running  off  to 
ward  Campos  on  the  Rio  Parahyba  do  Sul,  the  land  border 
ing  the  coast  being  flat,  more  or  less  swampy,  and  diversified 
by  numberless  shallow  lagoons,  some  of  which  are  of  large 
extent.  Off  Macahe,  and  distant  a  few  miles  from  the 
shore,  lie  the  little  gneiss  islands  of  Santa  Anna,  known 
to  coasters  as  their  only  retreat,  north  of  Os  Buzios,  when 
storms  or  northeast  winds  prevent  them  from  passing  Cape 
Sao  Thom6.  There  is  usually  a  strong  current  off  the 
Cape,  but  it  is  very  variable.  During  the  prevalence  of 
a  long  northeast  blow  it  runs  southward  with  such  rapidity 
that  it  is  impossible  for  coasting  vessels  to  tack  against 
it.  They  may  succeed  in  beating  up  from  the  islands 
of  Santa  Anna,  close  to  the  shore,  until  they  reach  the 
Cape,  but  they  are  then  swept  back.  I  was  once  nearly 


42  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

a  fortnight  beating  off  this  coast  during  the  prevalence  of  a 
northeast  breeze,  and  I  visited  the  islands  many  times. 
•They  are  of  no  very  especial  interest,  but  one  may  observe 
here  the  sea-urchins'  nests,  raised  above  high-water  mark, 
and  may  study  some  of  the  topographical  features  developed 
by  decomposition.  I  add  a  little  sketch  of  the  westernmost 
island,  as  seen  from  the  northeast,  to  show  the  smoothly 
rounded  character  of  its  steep  sides. 


ONE  OF  THE  ISLANDS  OF   SANTA  ANNA. 


The  Serras,  always  clothed  with  the  virgin  forest,  stretch 
along,  at  varying  distances  from  the  coast,  in  a  magnificent 
range  of  hills,  with  steep  slopes  toward  the  sea,  forming  one 
of  the  grandest  panoramas  of  mountain  scenery  on  the 
coast  of  Brazil.  Of  the  altitude  of  these  hills  I  have  no  pre 
cise  information,  but  I  should  estimate  some  of  them  as  at 
least  6,500  feet.  There  is  one  very  conspicuous,  obelisk-like 
peak,  lying  behind  Macahe,  but  standing  somewhat  in 
advance  of  the  general  range  of  the  Serra,  and  called  the 
Frade  de  Macahe'.  Lieutenant  Mouchcz*  gives  its  altitude 
on  one  of  his  charts  as  1,750  metres  (5,745  feet),  which 

*  Lieutenant  Mouchez  has  on  his  charts  given  the  heights  of  various  hills 
along  the  coast,  but  I  find  no  note  as  to  whether  they  are  the  results  of  actual 
measurements. 


THE   PROVINCE   OF   RIO   DE   JANEIRO.  43 

would  make  it  almost  as  high  as  the  Serra  da  Piedade  in 
Minas.  The  Serras  break  down  on  reaching  the  valley  of 
the  Parahyba  River,  just  below  Sao  Fidelis,  when,  in  de 
tached  Serras,  they  recede  somewhat  from  the  coast,  cross 
the  Muriahd  and  Itabapuana  rivers,  tying  in  with  the  Serras 
of  Itabapuana  and  Itapemerim,  and  forming  some  very 
picturesque  mountain  scenery. 

All  the  flat,  sandy,  and  swampy  land,  interspersed  with 
lagoons,  which  borders  the  Rio  Parahyba  almost  to  Campos, 
a  city  some  miles  above  its  mouth,  as  well  as  that  which 
stretches  southward  to  Macahe,  or  thereabouts,  is  of  very  re 
cent  formation,  and  is  composed  principally  of  sands  and  silt 
brought  down  by  the  river.  Off  the  coast  of  Sao  Thomd, 
as  well  as  for  some  distance  northward,  the  water  is  very 
shallow,  and  much  discolored.  These  lands  are  bordered 
by  a  long,  dreary  sand-beach.*  The  country  behind  is, 
to  a  considerable  extent,  covered  by  shrubbery  and  trees, 
but  there  are  extensive  open  plains  where  herds  of  cattle 
graze.  By  means  of  a  ditch  uniting  the  lagoons,  and  dig 
nified  by  the  name  of  a  canal,  water  communication  with 
Macahe  has  been  opened,!  and  a  considerable  trade  is 
carried  on  between  the  two  places,  or  the  settlements  on  the 
route,  by  means  of  canoes.  Much  of  this  swampy  ground  is 
excellent  for  rice,  —  an  important  product  of  this  part  of 
the  country. 

The  lakes  of  this  region  are  very  numerous.  They  are  all 
shallow,  but  some  are  several  leagues  in  diameter.  The 

*  Owing  to  the  northeast  trend  of  the  beach  south  of  Cape  Frio,  and  the 
prevalence  of  northeast  winds,  the  waves  strike  the  beach  obliquely,  and  there 
is  a  tendency  for  the  sands  to  move  southward.  There  are  no  dunes  here. 

t  I  have  understood  that  this  canal  was  finished,  but  Pompco  says  that  in  1864 
it  was  only  two  thirds  completed. 


44  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

largest  is  Lagoa  Feia,  an  irregular  lake  some  twenty  miles 
long,  lying  about  ten  miles  south  of  Campos.  Owing  to  its 
great  area  and  its  very  small  depth,  its  waters  are  kept  con 
stantly  turbid  through  their  agitation  by  the  winds.  It  re 
ceives  from  the  west  quite  a  little  stream,  the  Rio  Macabu, 
which  rises  near  the  Serra  do  Frade.  This  river  is  navi 
gable  for  canoes  for  some  twenty  miles  above  the  lake. 
Another  mountain  stream  of  considerable  importance  rises 
among  the  Serras  just  north  of  the  Macabu,  and  uniting  in 
its  course  several  large  lakes,  also  enters  Lagoa  Feia. 
This  lake  is  united  on  all  sides  with  a  multitude  of  lagoons 
of  greater  or  less  size  by  a  perfect  network  of  little  channels, 
so  that  its  waters  flow  partly  to  the  north  into  the  Para- 
hyba,  while  in  part  they  escape  into  a  system  of  long  narrow 
lagoons  that  stretch  along  just  behind  the  beach  ridges  of 
the  shore  at  Cape  Sao  Thome,  and  communicate  by  channels 
across  the  beach  with  the  sea.  One  of  these  lagoons,  which 
passes  by  the  name  of  the  Rio  Iguassu,  is  some  fifteen  miles 
long.  It  has  evidently  been  formed  by  the  throwing  up  in 
very  recent  times,  probably  during  the  prevalence  of  some 
very  heavy  storm,  of  a  line  of  sand-beach  just  outside  of  the 
shore.  Similar  lagoons  are  found  elsewhere  along  the 
coast,  as  for  instance  just  south  of  Belmonte,  on  the 
Jequitinhonha,  and  I  believe  that  the  great  line  of  sand- 
beaches  stretching  along  the  coast  Avas  thrown  up,  to  begin 
with,  by  an  extraordinarily  heavy  storm  which  prevailed 
along  the  whole  coast,  and  which,  in  many  instances,  where 
the  water  was  very  shallow,  disturbed  the  bottom  at  some 
little  distance  outside  of  the  shore  line,  throwing  up  a  sand 
barrier  which,  through  the  drifting  of  sands  by  the  winds,  as 
well  as  by  the  action  of  the  waves,  has  since  reached  its  pres 
ent  dimensions.  During  the  overflow  of  the  Parahyba  its 


THE  PROVINCE   OF  RIO   DE  JANEIRO.  45 

waters  back  up  over  much  of  the  plain  on  both  sides  of  the 
river,  and  the  country  becomes  largely  submerged.  At  the 
time  of  the  enchente,  or  annual  freshet,  the  inhabitants  cut 
outlets  across  the  sea-beaches  for  some  of  the  lakes  in  the 
southern  part  of  the  campos.  North  of  the  Parahyba,  and 
near  the  city  of  Campos,  there  is  another  large  lake  called 
Lagoa  do  Campello,  and  the  country  thence  northward  to  the 
Guaxindiba  is  full  of  lagoons  and  cut  up  by  little  channels. 

The  Parahyba  empties  into  the  sea  by  two  mouths,  distant 
some  two  miles  from  one  another,  and  between  which  is  the 
Ilha  do  Lima.  The  delta  of  the  Parahyba  projects  two  or 
three  miles  beyond  the  general  line  of  the  coast.  The 
mouths  of  the  river  are  obstructed  by  bars,  over  which  the 
waves  at  times  break  fearfully,  and  an  entrance  can  ordina 
rily  be  effected  only  at  high  tide  ;  yet  small  coasting  steamers 
and  vessels  do  enter,  and  small  river  steamers,  and  some 
times  even  schooners,  ascend  as  far  as  Campos.  At  the 
mouth  on  the  south  side  is  the  miserable  little  town  of  Sao 
Joao  da  Barra,  built  on  a  sand-bank  which  admits  of  no  cul 
tivation  whatever.  It  contains  some  two  thousand  inhabi 
tants,  who  subsist  principally  by  fishery,  shipbuilding,  and 
commerce.  It  owes  its  importance  to  the  sole  fact  that  ves 
sels  arc  often  long  delayed  either  off  the  bar  waiting  to  enter, 
or  inside  waiting  to  go  out,  and  this  keeps  up  a  little  trade. 
In  its  lower  course  the  river  is  wide  and  shallow.  Mangrove 
swamps  and  low  grounds,  sometimes  covered  with  bushes 
and  trees,  often  waving  with  the  tasselly  spikes  of  the 
Uba  (Gynerium  parvifolium  Nees),  border  it  for  a  few 
miles,  but  by  and  by  the  banks,  which  are  composed 
of  the  richest  alluvial  clay,  grow  higher,  and  thence  to 
Campos  the  beautiful  river  is  bordered  by  immense  sugar 
plantations,  and  the  scenery  is  enlivened  by  frequent 


46  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

fazendas  and  the  fabricas  with  their  tall  smoke-stacks. 
The  plains  are  covered  with  thick  beds  of  silt,  deposited 
by  the  river  during  the  annual  overflows. 

The  waters  of  the  Parahyba,  as  well  as  of  all  the  moun 
tain  streams  of  the  province  flowing  through  gneiss  re 
gions,  are  very  turbid  and  usually  of  a  milky  brown 
ish  tinge,  throwing  down  a  copious  sediment,  even  in  dry 
times ;  but  when  the  river  is  swollen  by  rains,  the  quan 
tity  of  silt  is  very  much  increased.  This  material,  whether 
derived  from  the  gneiss  rock  itself  or  from  the  drift,  consists 
chiefly  of  decomposed  feldspar  and  mica,  and  the  water  of  the 
river  is  glistening  with  the  minute  silvery  flakes  of  the  latter 
mineral.  The  soil  deposited  by  the  river  is  very  productive 
in  sugar-cane,  and  the  region  round  about  Campos  manu 
factures  a  very  large  amount  of  sugar  and  rum,  the  former  of 
a  very  good  quality ;  and  this  is  the  principal  product  of 
the  plains.  At  Campos  the  country,  though  flat,  is  some 
what  higher,  and  one  may  see,  from  an  inspection  of  the 
river-bank,  that  the  alluvial  deposits  are  underlaid  by 
tertiary  clays  which  have  been  more  or  less  denuded. 

Notwithstanding  the  turbidness  of  the  water  of  the  Para 
hyba,  it  is,  when  the  sediment  has  been  deposited,  very  pot 
able,  and  maybe  preserved  for  a  long  time.  The  usual  cus 
tom  is  to  keep  the  water  in  great  earthen  jars,  sometimes 
weeks  or  months  before  using  it. 

The  city  of  Campos  is  a  respectable  town  of  about  twenty 
thousand  *  inhabitants,  built  on  the  right  bank  of  the  river. 
Its  trade  consists  principally  in  sugar  and  coffee,  and  it  is  a 
place  of  extraordinary  stir.  The  vicinity  is  flat  and  fertile, 

*  At  least  so  says  Pompeo  in  his  Geography.  As  there  has  been  no  regular 
census,  it  is  impossible  to  give  with  accuracy  the  number  of  inhabitants  of 
Brazilian  towns. 


THE   PROVINCE   OF  RIO  DE  JANEIRO.  47 

and  largely  cultivated  for  sugar.  In  the  vicinity  of  Campos 
the  Goyabeira,  or  Guava-tree  of  the  West  Indies  (Psidium 
Guaiava  Raddi),  is  very  largely  cultivated,  and  the  fruit  is 
manufactured  into  a  sweetmeat  which  is  exported  in  great 
quantity  from  Campos.  There  are  extensive  low  tracts 
which  in  the  wet  season  —  in  part  for  the  whole  year  — 
form  shallow  lagoons  and  marshes.  In  these  marshes,  as 
well  as  in  the  ditch,  dignified  by  the  name  of  canal,  which 
runs  Macahe-ward,  Mr.  Copeland  and  I  collected  a  great 
abundance  of  ampullariae,  planorbes,  &c.  The  former  I 
found  laying  in  June.  The  eggs  were  large  and  salmon-col 
ored,  and  were  attached  in  bunches  to  the  grass.  These 
swamps  are  also  rich  in  fish,  Piabas,  Acaras,  Trahiras,  &c. 

The  Rio  Muriah^  is  a  little  stream  entering  the  Para- 
hyba  from  the  north  a  short  distance  above  Campos,  tak 
ing  its  rise  in  the  province  of  Minas.  At  its  mouth  it  is 
perhaps  400  or  500  feet  wide.  It  is  navigable  for  a  few  miles 
to  the  first  falls.  The  following  observations  were  made 
during  an  ichthyological  excursion  up  the  river :  The  lands 
in  the  vicinity  of  the  mouth  of  the  river  along  the  left  bank 
of  the  Parahyba  are  alluvial  and  flat,  so  far  as  I  could 
see.  Two  miles  up  the  river,  near  the  fazenda  of  the 
Baroness  of  Muriatic",  the  ground  rises  somewhat  above  its 
general  level,  is  hummocky,  diversified  by  immense  ant 
hills,  and  covered  by  a  red  drift  soil. 

Ascending  a  little  farther,  higher  grounds  of  the  same 
character  are  cut  through,  and  they  are  seen  to  be  composed 
of  tertiary  clays  and  sandstones,  as  may  be  observed  in  a 
bluff  near  Jundia.  At  Pestrella  the  land  rises  to  a  height 
of  seventy  feet,  and  is  composed  below  of  a  thick  bed  of 
coarse  dark-red  sandstone,  extending  below  water-level, 
over  which  are  beds  of  whitish  and  red  sandy  clays. 


48  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

These  hills  are  outliers  of  the  tertiary  beds  of  the  coast, 
much  denuded  by  glacial  action.  A  large  part  of  the  lands 
bordering  the  river  are  low,  and  above  the  fazenda  of  the 
Barao  d'ltabapuana  they  consist  of  beds  of  horizontally 
stratified  sands  above,  with  irregularly  stratified  brown 
clayey  earth  below.  In  this  last  were  layers  of  a  dark  ma 
terial,  which  appeared  to  be  made  up  of  leaves.  I  may  here 
state  that  it  has  been  reported  that  coal,  or  lignite,  occurs 
in  the  vicinity  of  Campos,  I  have  seen  no  signs  of  pala?ozoic 
or  secondary  rocks  anywhere  in  the  province  of  Rio  de 
Janeiro,  and  at  Campos  I  could  not  learn  of  the  existence 
of  any  such  deposits.  The  report  may  have  originated  from 
these  recent  vegetable  deposits  on  the  Muriahe.  Gneiss 
shows  itself  at  the  fazenda  of  Piranga.  Above  the  fazenda 
of  Oiteiro  the  plains  cease,  and  the  river  winds  among  gneiss 
hills,  some  of  which  are  of  considerable  altitude  ;  the  Morro 
do  Sapateiro,  distant  a  few  miles  northwest  of  the  Santa  Rita, 
being  perhaps  2,000  feet  in  altitude,  while  the  Serra  da 
On^a,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river,  is  set  down  by  Mou- 
chez  as  1,400  metres  in  height. 

The  soils  of  the  higher  lands  I  examined  on  the  Muriahe' 
were  not  good,  but  those  of  the  lower  were.  The  principal 
product  of  the  region  is  sugar,  and  there  are  some  immense 
fabricas  on  the  river,  as,  for  instance,  those  of  Taepebas* 
and  the  one  belonging  to  Senhor  Joao  Caldas  Vianna,  Jr., 
which  were  the  only  ones  we  visited. 

At  the  warehouse  of  Senhor  Amaral,  at  the  head  of  naviga 
tion,  the  country  consists  of  gneiss,  with  rather  low  rounded 
hills  bordering  the  river,  and  higher  ones  on  the  southwest. 
At  the  warehouse  I  found  the  strike  N.  65°  E.,  dip  85°  W., 

*  This  factory  is  worked  by  steam,  and  the  molasses  is  separated  from  the 
sugar  by  centrifugal  motion. 


THE  PROVINCE   OF   RIO   DE  JANEIRO.  49 

and  a  short  distance  up  the  river  at  the  fazenda  de  Santa 
Maria  das  Taepebas  I  observed  a  well  laminated  gray  and 
fine-grained  gneiss,  with  strike  N.  60° -62°  E.,  dip  nearly 
vertical.  Garnets  are  abundant  in  the  rock  here. 

In  ascending  the  Parahyba  from  Campos  to  Sao  Fidelis, 
the  head  of  steam  navigation,  we  have  before  us  one  of  the 
finest  pieces  of  river  and  mountain  scenery  on  the  coast. 


LOOKING  UP  THE   EIO  PARAHYBA  FROM   ABOVE   CAMPOS. 

For  about  one  third  of  the  distance  above  Campos  the 
country  bordering  the  river  is  flat.  It  then  becomes  higher 
and  more  uneven,  and  gneiss  is  seen  in  the  river-banks. 
What  appears  to  be  the  highest  point  of  the  Sapateiro 
range  is  on  the  Parahyba  River,  on  the  left  bank.  It  is 
a  large  dome-shaped  hill,  with  more  or  less  bare,  precipi 
tous  sides.  Between  it  and  the  river  are  several  other  quite 
prominent  hills,  in  the  first  of  which  are  quarries,  from 
which  a  large  part  of  the  gneiss  used  for  building  purposes 
in  Campos  is  obtained.  On  the  western  side  of  the  river 
opposite  the  Sapateiro  range  stretch  westward  the  serras  of 
Sao  Fidelis  in  a  series  of  sharp  peaks.  The  height  of  some 
of  the  peaks  must  be  at  least  3,500  feet,  probably  more. 
The  sides  of  the  mountains  are  all  regularly  rounded  like 
those  of  Rio.  Like  the  Organs,  some  of  the  hills  are  very 


50  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL    GEOGRAPHY. 

sharp,  but  they  are  not  so  prominent  as  to  give  to  this  land 
scape  so  striking  a  character  as  the  Organs  do  to  the  scenery 
of  the  serra  of  that  name .  The  gneiss  of  Sao  Fidelis  is  similar 
to  that  of  Rio,  and  contains  a  large  quantity  of  garnets,  some 
of  the  crystals  of  which  are  an  inch  and  a  half  in  diameter. 
At  a  rocky  place  by  the  river-side  I  observed  a  strike  of 
N.  64°  E.,  the  dip  being  vertical.  At  Sao  Fidelis  navigation 
ends.  Above  that  point  the  river  is  full  of  rapids,  obstruct 
ed  by  rocks,  and  is  navigable  only  for  canoes  and  the  like. 
The  lands  of  the  immediate  vicinity  arc  not  largely  culti 
vated. 

At  Cantagallo,  during  the  reign  of  the  first  Vice-King  of 
Brazil,  gold  was  discovered  by  certain  seekers  and  smug 
glers  of  gold,  garimpeiros,  who,  quietly  taking  possession  of 
the  place  for  many  years,  extracted  gold  in  secret,  and  it 
was  a  long  time  before  the  Brazilian  government  discovered 
the  region  whence  so  much  gold  found  its  way  to  the  capital. 
Mawe  says  that  the  rock  of  the  locality  is  granite  composed 
of  feldspar,  hornblende,  quartz,  mica,  sometimes  holding  gar 
nets,  —  evidently  gneiss,  like  that  of  the  Serra  do  Mar  to  the 
westward.  He  states  that  the  gold  comes  from  the  lowest 
bed  of  cascalho,  or  gravel,  occurring  always  in  rounded 
grains,  and  that  he  never  saw  a  crystallized  specimen.  Gold 
and  ferric  oxide  were  the  only  metallic  substances  found 
here.  At  the  time  of  Mawe's  visit  (1808)  so  little  gold  was 
extracted,  that  the  quinto,  or  royalty,  paid  to  the  govern 
ment  would  scarcely  suffice  to  pay  the  officers  and  soldiers 
appointed  to  collect  it.  Von  Tschudi  says  *  that  the  gold 
of  Cantagallo  came  from  the  bed  of  a  stream. 

Another  locality  wrhere  gold  was  formerly  washed  is  Santa 

*  Reisen  durch  Swd-America,  Drittcr  Band,  176t<!  Seite.  This  volume  con 
tains  a  lengthy  description  of  Cantagallo  and  Nova  Friburgo. 


THE   PROVINCE    OF   EIO   DE   JANEIRO.  51 

Rita,  a  place  about  five  Brazilian  leagues  northeast  of  Can- 
tagallo.  Mawe  *  describes  the  gold  as  occurring  in  a  bed 
of  cascalho,!  or  gravel,  overlaid  by  earth.  The  layer  of 
cascalho  varies  in  thickness  from  two  feet  to  seven  or  eight 
inches,  and  lies  under  a  thickness  of  four  or  five  feet  of 
earth. 

The  Cantagallo  region  was  never  very  rich  in  gold.  At 
Santa  Rita  and  in  the  vicinity  Mawe  found  heavy  deposits 
of  limestone. 

From  Sao  Fidelis  I  made  a  horseback  journey  in  company 
with  Mr.  Copeland  across  the  country  northward  by  way  of 
the  Yallao  Grande,  to  Bom  Jesus  on  the  Itabapuana  River,  the 
dividing  line  between  the  provinces  of  Rio  and  Espirito  Santo. 

For  the  greater  part  of  the  distance  to  the  Rio  Muriahe 
the  road  led  through  the  most  dense  and  luxuriant  virgin 
forest.  Little  was  to  be  seen  of  the  rock,  or  even  of  the 
soil,  but  I  observed  that  the  drift  clay,  where  exposed, 
often  contained  boulders  of  gneiss  ;  and  masses  of  rock 
of  large  size  were  sometimes  seen  resting  upon  it.  On 

*  "  Travels  in  the  Interior  of  Brazil,  particularly  in  the  Gold  and  Diamond 
Districts  of  that  Country.  By  Authority  of  the  Prince  Regent  of  Portugal.  By 
John  Mawe."  I  do  not  know  the  date  of  the  English  edition.  I  have  a  copy  of 
the  American  reprint,  which  appeared  in  1816,  and  was  published  in  Philadel 
phia.  It  has  as  a  frontispiece  a  large  steel  engraving,  representing  a  number 
of  negroes  at  work  under  a  long  thatched  shed  washing  for  diamonds,  —  an  en 
graving  which  has  been  copied  over  and  over  again,  and  is  familiar  to  every 
young  student  of  geography.  A  German  edition  in  my  possession,  entitled 
Reisen  in  das  Innere  von  Brasilien,  was  published  in  1816  at  Leipzig,  while 
Burton  mentions  a  French  work  bearing  the  title  Voyages  dans  I'lnterieur  du 
Bre'sil  en  1809  et  1810,  published  in  the  same  year,  and  which  I  suppose  to  be  a 
translation  of  the  above  "  Travels,"  though  Mawe  began  his  explorations  in 
Brazil  in  September,  1807.  This  is  a  work  of  much  interest,  and  contains  many 
valuable  geological  facts. 

t  The  word  cascalho.  pronounced  cascalyo,  means  gravel  in  Portuguese.  In 
Brazil  the  auriferous  cascalho  is  almost  invariably  composed  of  quartz  pebbles. 


52  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL    GEOGRAPHY. 

the  Vallao  Grande,  about  a  league  west  of  the  river  Muriahd, 
I  saw  well-laminated  gneiss  with  a  strike  of  N.  64°  E., 
and  a  northward  dip.  The  valley  of  the  Muriahe  I 
found  well  cultivated  where  I  crossed  it,  and  furnishing 
large  crops  of  sugar-cane.  Leaving  the  river,  our  course  lay 
over  a  serra,  which  our  guide  called  Matuca.  It  is  com 
posed  of  gneiss,  and  must  be  over  2,000  feet  high.  On  our 
descent  on  the  northern  side,  I  observed  thick  beds  of  a  kind 
of  gneiss  composed  almost  entirely  of  quartz,  and  in  the 
drift  I  saw  boulders  of  this  rock  mixed  up  with  boulders  of 
common  gray  gneiss.*  From  this  serra  to  Bom  Jesus  the 
country  is  all  gneiss,  with  low  rounded  hills,  the  whole 
being  covered  with  a  most  vigorous  forest  growth.  The  Rio 
Itabapuana  is  a  little  stream  comparable  to  the  Rio  Pirahy  on 
the  Dom  Pedro  II.  Railroad.  Between  Bom  Jesus  and  the 
Ribeirao  do  Jardim  the  land  is  rather  low,  and  diversified 
by  rounded  gneiss  hills  of  inconsiderable  elevation.  The 
river  is  bordered  by  flat,  alluvial  lands,  often  marshy,  the 
resort  of  great  numbers  of  water-birds,  piagocas  (Parr a 
Jacana),  cranes,  &c. 

On  the  Espirito  Santo  side,  between  the  Ribeirao  do  Jar- 
dim  and  the  Ribeirao  Formoso,  begins  the  Serra  de  Sao 
Romao  e  Santa  Paz,  or  the  Serra  de  Itabapuana,  which  rises 
abruptly  from  the  river  and,  more  or  less  broken,  runs  off 
in  a  northeast  direction  to  the  Rio  Itape'merim.  The  hills 
on  the  Rio  Itabapuana  are  more  than  a  thousand  feet  high, 
and  are  composed  of  gneiss  which  dips  southward  at  a 
moderate  angle  and  with  its  usual  strike.  They  are  very 
precipitous  on  the  southern  side,  the  rocks  being  covered 
by  an  abundant  growth  of  cactuses,  <fec.  On  the  same  side 
of  the  river,  in  the  angle  between  the  Ribeirao  Formoso  and 

*  I  was  told  that  there  was  limestone  in  this  serra,  but  I  saw  none. 


THE   PROVINCE   OF   RIO  DE  JANEIRO.  53 

the  Itabapuana,  is  a  solitary  irregular  conical  peak  called  the 
Pedra  Formosa,  which,  standing  alone  in  front  of  the  amphi 
theatre  formed  by  the  Serra  of  Sao  Romao,  and  that  of  Santa 
Paz,  forms  a  fine  piece  of  mountain  scenery.  Thence  onward 
to  the  fazenda  of  Sao  Pedro  the  country  is  still  gneiss,  the 
hills  are  low,  covered  by  a  most  fertile  red  drift  soil,  and  are 
heavily  forest-clothed.  The  river  is  rocky  and  swift,  and  just 
below  the  fazenda  there  are  some  considerable  rapids  which 
extend  for  nearly  a  mile,  and  would  furnish  an  abundant 
water-power.  The  soils  of  this  vicinity  are  very  good,  and 
excellent  cane,  coffee,  and  cotton  are  raised.  The  cotton 
which  I  examined  on  the  fazenda  of  Senhor  Martinho  Fr. 
Medino  was  the  finest  I  ever  saw  on  the  coast.  The 
gneiss  of  this  vicinity,  and  of  Porto  da  Limeira,  lies  remark 
ably  horizontally.  At  the  rapids  at  the  fazenda  of  Senhor 
Martinho  it  has  a  northward  dip  of  some  ten  degrees  only. 
At  Sao  Pedro  and  Porto  da  Limeira  it  is  well  laminated,  but 
it  has  a  very  irregular  dip  and  strike,  though  the  dip  is 
generally  northward.  The  rock  is  full  of  granite  and  quartz 
veins.  About  three  miles  south  of  Limeira  is  a  remarkable 
isolated  peak  called  the  Garrafao,*  or  the  "  demijohn"  which 
forms  a  very  conspicuous  landmark,  visible  from  a  consider 
able  distance  off  the  coast  at  sea.  It  is  precipitous  on  all 
sides,  and  as  it  is  long  from  east  to  west,  and  very  narrow, 
it  presents  very  different  aspects  according  to  the  position 
from  which  it  is  seen.  From  some  points  of  the  compass  it 
appears  dome-shaped,  from  others  like  an  immense  tower  or 
pillar  rising  out  of  the  generally  plain  country.  Mouchez 
estimates  its  height  at  910  metres  ;  I  should  set  it  down  as 
between  2,500  and  3,000  feet. 

*  It  has  almost  precisely  the  same  structure  and  nearly  the  same  form  as  the 
Garrafao  among  the  "  Organs." 


54  GEOLOGY   AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

Between  the  Rio  Itabapuana  and  the  Parahyba,  eight  or 
ten  miles  south  of  the  Garrafao,  and  in  a  line  with  the  Serra  da 
Oiic;a,  is  a  remarkable  group  of  gneiss  hills,  which  is  visible 
from  Cape  Sao  Thome,  a  distance  of  at  least  forty  miles. 
One  of  these  is  a  very  sharp,  conical  needle,  called  Pedra 
Lisa.*  This  needle  is  seen  in  the  following;  sketch. 


Descending  the  river  from  Porto  da  Limeira,  one  soon 
leaves  the  gneiss  region,  and  comes  upon  a  flat  country,  for 
the  most  part  very  heavily  wooded,  and  more  or  less  diver 
sified  by  shallow  lagoons,  one  of  which,  Lagoa  Feia,  is  quite 
extensive.  The  river  is  very  narrow  and  tortuous,  and  only 
navigable  for  very  small  steamers.  Much  of  the  land  is  very 
low,  and  must  be  frequently  overflowed  ;  but  there  are  some 
considerable  patches  of  tertiary,  which  are  however  much 
denuded.  At  the  fazendas  of  Senhores  Pedro  Mendes  and 
Antonio  Martini  these  lands  rise  to  a  height  of  perhaps  sixty 
feet,  and  on  the  river  they  are  seen  to  be  composed  of  the 
characteristic  tertiary  sandstones  and  clays.  The  little 
village  of  the  Barra  do  Itabapuana,  principally  inhabited  by 

*  I  have  seen  this  remarkable  peak  from  all  sides.  It  always  appears  as  a 
needle  or  sharp  cone.  Mouchcz  makes  it  1,150  metres  in  height,  and  I  do  not 
think  he  has  over-estimated  it. 


THE   PROVINCE   OF   RIO  DE   JANEIRO.  55 

fishermen,  is  built  on  a  strip  of  sand  on  the  right  bank  of 
the  river,  near  the  mouth.  It  is  separated  from  the  shore 
by  a  narrow,  shallow  channel,  or  lagoon,  which  runs  south 
ward  from  the  river,  parallel  with  the  shore,  and  just  behind 
the  beach  ridge.  This  lagoon  communicates  with  a  marshy 
tract  covered  by  mangroves,*  south  of  which  red  tertiary 
sandstones  are  exposed  on  the  edge  of  the  marsh,  and  the 
land  rises  apparently  some  twenty  feet,  forming  to  the  south 
ward  a  large  patch  of  tertiary.  Opposite  the  town  there  is 
a  large  sandy  island,  which  is  separated  from  the  beach  by 
a  lagoon  which  stretches  northward  along  the  shore  for 
some  distance. 

A  league  or  more  to  the  south  of  the  Barra  do  Itabapuana  f 
are  two  or  three  rocky  points  of  tertiary  sandstone,  present 
ing  low  red  cliffs.  The  same  rock  is  said  to  occur  at  Man- 
guinhos.  Isolated  masses  of  this  rock,  covered  at  high  tide, 
occur  off  the  Barra  of  the  Itabapuana,  and  also  at  Man- 
guinhos. 

The  mouth  of  the  Itabapuana  is,  like  the  Parahyba,  ob 
structed  by  a  sand-bar,  and  is  entered  with  difficulty.  The 
water  is  shallow  off  the  coast,  and  vessels  sometimes  anchor 
outside  the  bar  and  take  in  cargoes  of  wood,  <fcc. 

*  The  mud  of  the  mangrove  swamps  is  very  soft,  being  composed  of  the 
finest  kind  of  silt,  and  it  is  black  and  stinking  with  decaying  matter.  It  is  full 
of  shells,  leaves,  the  exuviae  of  crabs,  &c. 

t  Ita,  in  Tupy,  means  stone,  and  poam  or  puam  an  island ;  and  I  suspect  that 
the  name  Itabapuana  may  have  been  given  from  the  little  rocky  islands  men 
tioned  below.  Cazal  gives  the  name  of  the  river  as  Camapuan  or  Cabapuanna, 
and  says  that  the  savages  called  it  Reritigba.  (Coroyrafia,  Vol.  I.  p.  61.) 


56  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 


CHAPTER    II. 

PROVINCE    OF    ESPIRITO    SANTO. 

Barreiras  do  Siri.  —  Itapemerim.  —  Coast  between  Itapc'merim  and  Bcnevente. 

—  Bencveiite.  —  Guarapary ;  Consolidated  Beach,  Corals,  &c.  —  Rio  Jecii.  — 
Bay  of  Espirito  Santo.  —  Nossa  Senhora  da  Penha.  —  Victoria.  —  Decom 
position  of  Gneiss  and  Formation  of  Boulders  of  Decomposition.  — Recent 
Rise  of  the  Coast.  —  Corals,  &c.  of  the  Bay  of  Victoria.  —  Rio  Santa  Ma 
ria.  —  German    Colonies.  —  Fisheries.  —  Sand   Plains.  —  Tertiary  Plain   at 
Carapina.  —  Mestre  Alvaro.  —  Serra.  —  Nova  Almeida.  —  Rio  Reis  Magos.  — 
Santa  Cruz.  —  Basin  of  the  Rio  Doce.  —  Description  of  the  River.  —  Guan- 
dii :  its  Colony  and  Agricultural  Resources.  —  Porto  de  Souza.  —  Geology 
of  Vicinity. — Luxuriance  of  Vegetation  on  the  Doce.  —  Woods.  —  Game. 

—  Francylvania.  —  Climate  of  the  Doce.  —  Linhares.  —  Lagua  Juparanaa. 

—  The  Future  of  the  Doce.  —  American  Colonists.  —  Salt  Trade.  —  Barra 
Secca.  —  Sea-Turtles.  —  Consolidated  Beaches  and  the  Mode  of  their  Forma 
tion.  —  Character  of  Coast  between  the  Rivers  Doce  and  Sao  Matheos.  —  Rio 
Silo  Matheos  Described. —  Geological  Features.  —  Fertility  of  its  Lands. — 
Cocoa-Palms  and  their  Distribution.  —  City  of  Sao  Matheos.  —  Rio  Itahu- 
nas.  —  Cliffs  of  Os  Le^oes.  —  Coast  between  Itahiinas  and  Rio  Mucury. 

A  SHORT  distance  northward  of  the  Rio  Itabapuana,  and 
not  far  from  the  sea-shore,  is  Lake  Maroba,  from  which  flows 
the  river  of  the  same  name.  Between  the  Itabapuana  and 
this  river  the  coast  lands  are  low  and  marshy.  Just  south  of 
the  Barra  do  Maroba  the  lands  rise  somewhat  along  the  shore, 
and  tertiary  red  sandstone  shows  itself  in  the  beach.  The 
tertiary  bluffs  of  the  Itabapuana  sweep  round  back  of  the 
lake,  and  come  down  to  the  shore  north  of  the  Barra,  and 
are  continued  thence  northward  in  a  fine  range  of  bluffs 
called  the  Barreiras  do  Siri,  which,  from  the  bright  red 
colors  of  the  clays  and  sandstones  composing  them,  present 
a  very  picturesque  appearance  from  the  sea.  These-  cliffs  arc 


PROVINCE   OF   ESPIRITO   SANTO.  57 

seventy  to  eighty  feet  in  height,  and  the  country  lying  back 
of  them  is  a  wooded  plain. 

The  lowest  bed  seen  in  the  cliffs  of  Siri  is  a  coarse,  dark- 
red  sandstone,  with  indistinct  stratification,  and,  where  ex 
posed  on  the  beach,  full  of  holes,  presenting  an  appearance 
more  like  that  of  the  surface  of  a  lava  stream  than  anything 
else.  This  mass  of  sandstone  is  penetrated  by  deep,  perpen 
dicular,  pipe-like  holes,  which,  in  many  cases,  communicate 
with  one  another.  This  sandstone  rises  to  a  height  of  about 
twelve  feet  above  low-water  mark,  and  is  overlaid  by  a  bed, 
about  twenty  feet  thick,  of  a  sandy  clay,  whitish  and  reddish,* 
which  penetrates  into  the  cavities  of  the  sandstone.  The 
sandstone  seems  to  result  in  part  from  the  irregular  cement 
ing  of  the  sandy  clays  by  oxide  of  iron.  The  clays  are  soft 
and  show  no  distinct  stratification.  The  proportion  of  sand 
varies  very  much,  some  of  the  clays  being  exceedingly  fine 
in  texture,  like  kaolin.  They  are  not  at  all  plastic.  The 
color  varies  from  a  pure  white  to  a  bright  red,  and  some 
times  the  clay  is  variegated  with  curved  lines  of  red  or 
yellow,  so  as  to  look  like  fancy  Castile  soap.  Over  the  clay 
is  an  irregular  deposit  of  very  dark-red  sandstone,  which  is 
well  stratified,  and  sometimes  forms  lenticular  masses  ;  and 
over  this  in  turn  lies  a  bed  of  red  clay,  which  I  could  not 
well  examine.  Between  the  clay  and  the  soil,  which  is  usu 
ally  light  brown,  there  is  a  layer  of  pebbles  and  iron-stone 
nodules.  A  few  miles  below  Itapemerim  the  tertiary  lands 

*  Prinz  Max.  zu  Neu  "VVied,  Reise  nach  Brasilien,  Vol.  I.  p.  169,  speaks  of 
these  cliffs,  and  gives  the  following  note,  which  1  leave  in  his  own  words  :  — 

"  Der  Untersuchung  des  Herrn  Professor  Hausmann  zu  Gottingen  zufolgc 
gehurt  dieses  Fossil,  welches  einen  Hauptbestandtheil  eines  grossen  Theils 
dieser  Kiiste  von  Brasilien  ausmacht,  zum  verharteten  Steinmark,  wohin  man 
auch  die  sachsische  Wunder-Erde  zahlt.  Es  stimmt  in  alien  Kennzeichen  mit 
dem  Steinmarke  iiberein." 
3* 


58  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL    GEOGRAPHY. 

recede  from  the  beach,  and  are  broadly  denuded  on  both 
sides  of  the  river.  The  Itapemcrim  is  a  much  larger  stream 
than  the  Itabapuana.  It  rises  near  the  frontier  of  Minas 
Geraes,  west  of  Victoria,  behind  the  Serra  do  Pombal,  and 
has  a  course  of  about  eighty  miles.  It  is  shallow  in  its  lower 
course,  and  of  little  importance.  There  is  an  extensive 
alluvial  plain  bordering  the  river  on  the  south  side  for  a  few 
miles  above  the  town,  in  part  belonging  to  the  fazenda  of 
the  Barao  do  Itapemerim  ;  this  tract  of  land  is  very  fer 
tile,  and  a  considerable  part  is  cultivated  for  sugar.  There 
are  a  few  fazendas  farther  up  the  river.  That  of  Muqui, 
belonging  to  the  Baron,  is  built  on  a  gneiss  hill. 

The  serras  approach  nearer  the  coast  in  going  northward, 
and  in  the  neighborhood  of  Itapemerim  are  very  high,  pre 
senting  the  same  topographical  peculiarities  as  in  the  south. 


SERRA   OF    ITAPEMERIM,    SEEN   FROM    THE   SEA. 

About  twenty  miles  west  of  the  town  of  Itapemerim,  and 
south  of  the  river,  is  a  very  remarkable  irregular  peak  called 
the  Frade,  while  a  few  miles  to  the  northeast  is  a  group  of 
needles,  which  presents  an  exceedingly  strange  appearance 
when  seen  from  certain  points  of  the  compass,  appearing 
sometimes  like  the  fingers  of  a  giant  hand  held  up  against 
the  sky.  Some  of  these  needles  arc  at  least  3,000  feet  high. 
The  whole  country  lying  behind  them,  even  beyond  the  lim 
its  of  the  province,  is  very  mountainous,  and  is  composed 
of  gneiss.  I  was  informed  that  specular  iron  occurs  in  the 
serras  of  Itapemerim,  but  I  had  no  way  of  verifying  the 
report. 


PROVINCE   OF   ESPIRITO   SANTO.  59 

In  1723  the  first  settlers  on  the  Itapemerim  discovered 
gold  in  one  of  its  affluents  on  the  north,  called  the  Rio  do 
Castello.*  "  A  decree  of  the  17th  September  of  the  following 
year,  1724,  determined  that  the  auriferous  lands  should 
be  divided  into  small  portions  among  all  those  who  wished 
to  employ  themselves  in  the  labor  of  mining,  with  the  con 
dition  that  they  should  subject  themselves  to  the  laws  of 
the  sesmarias  and  to  the  impost  on  the  gold."  f  A  gold- 
washing  town  was  established  at  the  confluence  of  the  Cas 
tello  with  the  Itapemerim,  but  the  hopes  of  a  rich  yield 
proved  deceptive,:}:  and  with  the  incursion  of  the  Indians 
the  place  went  down. 

North  of  the  Itapemerim  the  coast  is  bordered  by  exten 
sive  plains  of  coarse  white  sand,  like  those  of  the  Island  of 
Paqueta  and  of  the  extension  of  the  Cantogallo  Railroad. 
These  plains  are  quite  destitute  of  grass,  and  are  covered 
sparsely  by  clumps  of  stunted  trees,  among  which  is  the 
Pitangueira  (Eugenia  pedunculata) ,  with  an  abundance  of 
cactuses  (  Cereus~) ,  and  bromeliaceous  plants.  About  half 
way  to  the  little  town  of  Piuma,  distant  some  eight  miles 
north  of  Itapemerim,  gneiss  hills  stretch  along  the  coast. 
Among  these  is  the  Morro  de  Agah,  one  of  the  noted  land 
marks  of  the  coast,  —  a  sharp,  saddle-shaped  ridge,  appear 
ing  pyramidal  when  seen  from  the  north.  Gneiss  shows  itself 
occasionally  on  the  beaches,  and  there  are  a  few  little  gneiss 
islands  off  the  coast. §  The  Piuma  is  a  very  small  river  of 
little  or  no  importance. 

*  Dice.  Geog.,  Art.  Castello. 

t  The  Cororjrafia  Brasilica,  published  in  1817,  speaks  of  these  mines  as 
having  been  abandoned  on  account  of  the  incursions  of  the  Indians. 

|  Von  Tschudi,  Reisen  durch  Slid  America,  Drittcr  Band,  60S'°  Seite. 

§  I  observed  on  the  shore,  just  south  of  the  point  of  the  Agah,  a  rock 
exposed,  which  appeared  to  be  a  sandstone.  It  was  much  decomposed,  and 
I  was  unable  to  examine  it  very  carefully. 


60  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

From  Piuma  to  Benevente,  which  is  a  ride  of  only  about 
two  hours,  and  cannot  be  more  than  from  four  to  six  miles, 
the  road  leads  over  low  gneiss  hills,  because  the  shore  is 
rocky  and  the  beach  has  to  be  abandoned.  The  Rio  Iri- 
ritiba,  or  Benevente,  is  a  small  stream,  navigable  for 
some  eight  leagues  above  its  mouth,  which  is  narrow,  sit 
uated  between  gneiss  hills,  and  unobstructed  by  a  bar,  —  a 
circumstance  owing  to  the  protection  of  this  part  of  the 
coast  by  a  rocky  point  extending  southward  some  two 
miles  east  of  the  mouth.  The  water  at  the  entrance  is 
deep,  and  vessels  of  considerable  tonnage  may  enter  at 
any  time  of  the  tide.  Just  inside,  the  river  spreads  out 
into  a  broad  sheet  of  water,  so  that  it  forms  one  of  the 
best  and  most  frequented  harbors  on  the  coast  of  Es- 
pirito  Santo.  Vessels  frequently  find  refuge  in  the  little 
bay  behind  the  point  east  of  Benevente,  where  they  are 
well  sheltered  from  northeast  storms.  The  town  is  a 
small  one,  and  situated  at  the  mouth  of  the  river,  on 
the  northern  side,  at  the  base  of  a  low  gneiss  hill.* 
Besides  ship-building,  its  trade  consists  in  wood  and  a  lit 
tle  coffee.  According  to  Yon  Tschudi,  the  lands  lying  back 
of  Benevente  are  very  fertile,  and  the  place  possesses 
natural  advantages  which  might,  if  properly  used,  make 
it  of  much  importance.  Leaving  Benevente,  and  going 
northward,  the  path  crosses  obliquely  a  projecting  point,  and 
passes  over  and  among  low  hills  of  red  sandstone  and  clays, 
the  sandstone  cropping  out  frequently  at  the  base  of  the 
hills.  The  soil  covering  these  hills  is  gray,  and  appears  to 
be  very  rich.  In  some  parts  it  is  of  a  deep  pinkish-red  color. 
On  leaving  the  hills  a  plain  of  white  sand  is  reached,  like 

*  Gneiss,  gray,  well  laminated.     Strike  N.  55°  E.     Dip  varying  from  ver 
tical  to  88°  N.     Rock  intersected  by  numerous  granite  veins. 


PROVINCE   OF  ESPIRITO   SANTO.  61 

that  of  Itapemerim.  This  occupies  a  sort  of  bay  in  the 
tertiary  lands,  which  soon  reach  the  coast  again  and  form 
a  long  line  of  red  cliffs,  extending  for  several  miles  along  the 
shore,  almost  to  the  little  fishing  village  of  Miahype.  This 
village  is  situated  on  a  narrow  sand-bank  uniting  a  small 
mass  of  gneiss  to  the  shore,  off  which  a  similar  mass  forms 
an  island.  Thence  northward  the  tertiary  lands  extend 
along  the  shore,  with  narrow  patches  of  sands  in  front,  and 
with  occasional  interruptions,  to  the  village  of  Guara- 
pary,*  when  the  shore  becomes  very  much  indented,  and 
the  distribution  of  the  various  formations  are  too  compli 
cated  for  description  here.  Many  of  the  low  hills  of 
the  vicinity  have  a  basis  of  gneiss,  but  are  capped  with 
tertiary  clays.  The  gneiss  shows  itself  in  a  number  of 
rocky  points  and  ledges,  and  at  the  mouth  of  the  river 
there  are  several  islands.  The  gneiss  is  gray,  but  it  is 
very  micaceous,  the  mica  being  in  moderately  large  black 
crystals.  I  find  in  my  note-book  an  observation  of  strike 
N.  80°  E.,  dip  80°  S. 


2^_-  -  .-::  .  _- 


COAST   SOUTH   OF    GUARAPARY. 

In  a  little  cove  just  south  of  the  town  is  a  large  detached 
mass  of  sandstone,  lying  just  in  front  of  the  beach,  and  at 

*  The  country  lying  between  the  coast  and  the  Serra  do  Pcro  Cao,  distant 
some  six  miles  from  Guarapary,  is  composed  of  low  hills,  some  of  which  are 
undoubtedly  tertiary,  interspersed  with  higher  ones,  as  the  Orobd,  which  are 
gneiss. 


62  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

low  tide  washed  by  the  waves.  It  consists  of  quartz  sand 
cemented  by  carbonate  of  lime,  and  the  rock  is  exceedingly 
hard.  It  is  well  stratified,  and  the  layers  are  nearly  hori 
zontal.  The  rock  is  cut  up  by  joints,  which  the  sea  has 
widened,  so  that  it  is  much  broken  up,  while  the  washing 
out  of  the  calcareous  cement  by  the  sea  has  left  the  surface 
very  ragged.  This  mass  is  only  part  of  a  solidified  beach 
which  has  been  laid  bare  by  an  encroachment  of  the  sea. 
At  low  water  it  furnishes  to  the  naturalist  a  very  rich  har 
vest  of  marine  animals,  for  in  the  holes  near  its  edge  grow 
masses  of  Siderastrcca  stellata  Verr.,  while  Acanthastrceas 
of  considerable  size  grow  attached  to  its  sides.  Favias  and 
Ag-aricias,  <fec.,  occur  in  great  abundance,  and  the  rocks  are 
covered  with  great  patches  of  the  common  brown  Palythoa 
of  the  coast,  and  of  a  spreading,  -green-disked  Zoanthus,  not 
determined.  Several  beautiful  species  of  sea-anemones, 
deeply  tinted,  are  very  common,  but  the  species  have  not  yet 
been  made  out.  At  low  tide  there  may  be  obtained  from 
the  rocks  beautiful  specimens  of  Hymenog-orgia  qucrcifolia, 
Eunida  humilis,  and  Plexaurella  dichotoma.  Sea-urchins 
(Echinometra  Michelini)  are  exceedingly  abundant  here,  and 
are  used  for  food  by  the  natives.  They  live  packed  securely 
away  in  deep  holes,  not  only  in  the  sandstone  of  the  reef,  but 
also  in  the  gneiss  of  the  adjacent  points.  Here  also  the 
beautiful  little  crimson  star-fish,  Echinaster  crassispina,  is 
very  abundant,  occurring  among  the  sea-weeds  and  in  little 
pools  betwixt  tide-marks  ;  and,  in  the  tide-pools,  Ophiura 
cincrea,  together  with  a  number  of  other  species  of  the  same 
order,  occurs.  Holothurians,  some  of  them  a  foot  long,  are 
very  abundant,  packed  into  crevices,  in  tide-pools,  and 
under  rocks  ;  and  a  pretty  comatula,  Antcdon  Dubenil 
Bolsche,  or  Braziliensis  Liitk.,  may  be  seen  through  the 


PROVINCE   OF   ESPIRITO   SANTO.  63 

water  covering  the  rocks  like  rosettes  of  brown  feath 
ers."* 

This  locality  is  rich  in  crustaceans,  but  not  especially  so 
in  mollusks  ;  indeed,  the  whole  coast  has  a  rather  poor 
molluscan  fauna.  A  large  octopod  is  common  here,  and  is 
hooked  out  from  the  crevices  in  the  rocks  by  the  inhabitants, 
who  use  it  for  food.  Guarapary  is  an  excellent  collecting- 
ground  for  marine  invertebrates,  though  not  so  good  as  Vic 
toria.  Inside  the  mouth  of  the  bay,  in  water  which  is  brack 
ish  and  impure,  occurs  a  slender-branching,  tender,  nodose 
Halcyonoid,  undetermined.  The  entrance  to  the  harbor  of 
Guarapary  is  good  and  secure,  and  shelter  for  shipping  is 
furnished  by  the  little  islands,  Escalvada  and  Raza,  lying  off 
the  coast ;  but  the  marshy  lands  in  the  vicinity  make  the 
place  exceedingly  unhealthy,  and  notwithstanding  the  lands 
to  the  west  of  the  town  are  good,  and  woods  and  valuable 
balsams  and  fish  are  in  abundance  in  the  vicinity,  the  un- 
healthiness  of  the  climate  has  placed  a  ban  upon  its  growth. 
The  river  is  a  little  one,  with  a  course  of  only  a  few  leagues, 
and  takes  its  rise  in  the  Serra  do  Pero  Cao.  It  is  said  to 
offer  navigation  as  far  as  the  coast  serra,  and  to  unite  in  its 
course  a  number  of  little  lakes. 

In  going  northward  from  Guarapary  the  path  leads,  first, 
over  a  gneiss  district  bordering  the  northern  side  of  the 
river,  and  then  descends  to  a  plain  of  white  sand,  sparsely 
covered  by  trees.  Crossing  this,  low  tertiary  hills  are 
reached,  with  more  or  less  gneiss,  bare  in  places,  espe 
cially  along  the  shore,  and  you  come  upon  the  little  brook 
Pero  Cao,  beyond  which  the  shores  are  sandy  and  flat  as 

*  Of  these  Radiates,  as  well  as  the  other  marine  invertebrates  of  the  reef,  Mr. 
Copeland  and  I  made  a  considerable  collection,  which  is  in  the  Museum  of 
Comparative  Zoology,  in  Cambridge,  but  has  not  yet  been  worked  up. 


64  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL    GEOGRAPHY. 

far  as  a  small  river  called  by  my  guide  Una,  but  which  does 
not  seem  to  be  represented  on  the  chart  of  Mouchez.  This 
little  stream  escapes  into  the  sea  just  south  of  a  projecting 
point  of  gneiss.  Between  this  point  and  the  serra  the  coun 
try  is  low.  The  distance  of  the  mountains  from  the  sea  is 
only  about  five  miles.  A  point  or  two  passed,  and  one 
reaches  a  long  sand-beach,  which  extends  some  eight  miles 
north  to  a  low  gneiss  point  called  Ponta  da  Fructa.  Along 
this  beach  are,  in  some  places,  sand-dunes  twenty  to  twenty- 
five  feet  in  height. 

From  the  Ponta  da  Fructa,  northward,  to  the  Ponta  dc  Jecii 
—  a  distance  of  seven  or  eight  miles  —  stretches  an  almost 
straight  sand-beach,  behind  which  are  plains,  sandy  and 
marshy,  —  a  perfect  batrachian  paradise. 

The  Ponta  do  Jecu  is  a  gneiss  hill,  somewhat  similar  to 
that  of  the  Fructa,  and  formerly  an  island,  but  now  joined 
to  the  mainland  by  a  sand-beach.  There  are  other  smaller 
hills  in  the  vicinity.  According  to  a  sketch  in  my  own 
note-book,  the  river  enters  the  sea  to  the  south  of  the  point, 
but  Mouchez's  chart  shows  it  entering  on  the  north  side, 
which  was  probably  the  case  at  the  time  his  chart  was 
made,  the  mouth  having  been  closed  on  the  south  by  a 
storm.  The  river  Jecu  rises  among  the  serras  to  the  west, 
and  is  an  insignificant  stream,  apparently  smaller  than  the 
Muriahe.  It  is  with  difficulty  navigable  for  canoes  for  only 
a  short  distance.  Some  five  miles  above  its  mouth  a  canal, 
cut  long  ago  by  the  Jesuits,  runs  off  northward  and  commu 
nicates  with  the  port  of  Victoria,  distant  about  five  miles. 
This  was  done  to  facilitate  the  transport  of  the  products  of 
the  country  to  Victoria,  as  well  as  to  avoid  the  dangerous 
passage  by  sea  from  the  mouth  of  the  river  around  the  reefs 
and  rocky  point  on  the  south  of  the  bay  of  Espirito  Santo. 


PROVINCE   OF  ESPIRITO   SANTO.  65 

The  cutting  of  this  canal  is  said  to  have  improved  the  health 
of  the  region  of  the  Jecti. 

On  this  river,  some  thirty  miles  from  its  mouth,  and 
somewhat  farther  from  the  city  of  Victoria,  was  estab 
lished,  in  the  year  1847,  a  German  colony,  Santa  Isabel, 
among  the  gneiss  hills  lying  east  of  the  serra,  in  a  region 
healthy  and  fertile,  and  proper  for  the  culture  of  coffee, 
cotton,  &c. ;  but  the  colony  has  not  been  prosperous, 
owing  to  bad  management  and  the  want  of  roads.* 

From  the  mouth  of  the  Jecu  to  the  bay  of  Espirito  Santo 
the  sand-beaches  continue,  backed  by  the  sandy  and  marshy 
plains  of  the  Campos  de  Piratinanga.f 

The  Bay  of  Espirito  Santo  is  about  two  and  a  half  miles 
wide,  and  irregular  in  shape.  On  the  north  is  the  Ponta 
do  Tubarao,  with  a  rocky  sandstone  shore,  whence  sweeps 
around  westward  and  southward  a  long  sand-beach,  join 
ing  a  rocky  point,  near  which  enters  the  channel  of  the 
Rio  da  Serra.  Thence  southward,  for  a  mile  or  more, 
the  land  is  high  and  irregular,  and  the  shore  consists  of 
sea-beaches  between  projecting  gneiss  points.  We  then 
reach  the  entrance  of  a  narrow,  irregular  channel,  —  the 
estuary  or  bay  of  the  Rio  Santa  Maria,  —  that  extends 
westward  among  gneiss  hills.  On  the  south  side  of  the  bay 
is  an  irregular  conical  gneiss  hill,  some  700  feet  high, 
called  Monte  Moreno,  forming  a  rocky  point.  West  of  this, 
and  separated  only  by  a  short  sand-beach  and  a  small  stream 
coming  from  the  swamps  to  the  southward,  is  another  coni 
cal  hill,  some  four  hundred  feet  high,  crowned  by  the  pictu- 

*  Tschiuli  (Reisen,  etc.,  Drittcr  Band,  8*  Seitc)  gives  as  the  mean  annual 
temperature  for  the  locality  +18  Reaumur  =  70.50  Fahr. 

t  St.  Hilaire,  in  speaking  of  the  sandy  plains  between  Jecu  and  Victoria, 
says  that  the  vegetation  covering  them  resembles  in  many  points  that  of  the 
elevated  plateaux  of  Minas  Novas.  (Tome  II.  2de  Partie,  p.  229.) 

E 


66  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

resque  pile  of  the  convent  of  Nossa  Senhora  da  Penlia.  West 
of  this,  between  the  Morro  de  Nossa  Senhora  da  Penha  and 
high  gneiss  hills,  is  the  deep  cove  of  Villa  Yelha,  with  the 
ancient  village  of  the  same  name  built  on  the  edge  of  the 
sand-plain.  Westward  of  this  cove  the  shore  stretches  to 
the  Pao  de  Assucar,  along  the  southern  side  of  the  channel 
of  the  Santa  Maria.  It  consists  of  a  number  of  high  rocky 
points,  united  by  mud-flats  and  sand-beaches.  The  oppo 
site  shore  of  the  channel  is  of  the  same  general  character. 
North  of  Monte  Moreno  and  of  the  mouth  of  the  channel 
are  two  more  high  gneiss  islands,  lying  one  north  of  the 
other.  There  are,  besides,  many  smaller  ones,  together 
with  a  number  of  rocks  and  skerries,  and  the  channel  is 
obstructed  near  the  Pao  de  Assucar  by  islands  and  rocks. 
The  Pao  de  Assucar  is  a  precipitous,  irregularly  conical 
gneiss  hill,  400  to  500  feet  high,  falling  off  to  the  north, 
presenting  to  the  channel  a  smooth,  almost  vertical,  face. 
Here,  by  the  projection  of  a  point  from  the  northern  side, 
the  channel  is  suddenly  narrowed  down  to  a  wTidth  of  only 
about  600  feet.  Passing  the  Pao,  the  channel  widens  out 
into  a  most  spacious  harbor,  and  on  the  northern  side,  in  a 
fine  amphitheatre  among  the  hills,  is  built  the  city  of  Vic 
toria.  This  basin  extends  only  about  a  couple  of  miles  west 
of  the  Pao.  At  its  head  it  receives  the  waters  of  the  canal 
from  the  Jecu,  and  of  the  Rios  Crubixaand  Santa  Maria.  A 
channel  extends  northward,  and,  uniting  the  mouths  of  sev 
eral  rivers,  passes  round  the  hills  of  Victoria  and  enters  the 
Bay  of  Espirito  Santo,  thus  rendering  them  an  island.  This 
island  is  composed  of  gneiss,  is  very  high,  rugged,  and 
clothed  with  forest.  To  the  north  and  west  the  coun 
try  is  a  plain,  while  the  shore  alone,  along  the  south  side 
of  the  bay  and  channel,  is  hilly.  The  hills  of  the  island 


PROVINCE    OF   ESPIRITO   SANTO. 


67 


and  adjoining  mainland  then  form  an  isolated  group,  of 
which  the  main  mass  just  behind  the  city  must  be  fully  1,000 
feet  in  height.  The  channel  of  the  harbor  is  a  narrow  valley, 
which,  owing  to  its  rocky  sides,  has  been  easily  kept  open. 
The  gneiss  of  the  locality  is  very  homogeneous,  porphyritic, 
and  of  the  same  general  character  as  that  of  the  coast 
southward.  As  a  general  thing  the  hills  are  dome-shaped 
and  regularly  rounded,  as  is  represented  in  the  following 
sketch,  but  sometimes  they  are  conical.  In  some  cases  one 
or  more  sides,  or  the  top,  is  bare  and  smooth,  as  is  the  case 
with  the  Pao  de  Assucar.  These  bare  surfaces  are  almost 


MONTE  JUTUQUARA   AND    GNEISS   HILLS   NEAR   VICTORIA. 

always  rounded  with  remarkable  regularity,  and  are  never 
jagged  and  angular,  like  our  northern  precipices,  or  the 
cliffs  on  the  Sao  Francisco,  below  the  falls  of  Paulo  Affonso. 
This  is  owing  to  the  uniform  decomposition  of  a  surface 
unbroken  by  joints  or  planes  of  stratification ;  for  many  of 
these  mountains  are  actually  formed  of  a  single,  unbroken 
mass  of  gneiss.  The  cliffs  are  rarely  vertical,  and  not  un- 
frequcntly  form  bare  places  on  a  mountain-side,  set  in  a 
framework  of  verdure.  Such  a  bare  slope  is  represented  in 


68 


GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 


the  following  sketch  of  the  Fortalcza  de  Peritininga,  below 
Villa   Velha,   Bay  of  Espirito  Santo.     They   are   usually 


FORTALEZA   DE   PERITININGA. 


stained  by  perpendicular  lines,  or  bands,  of  a  rich,  deep, 
inky,  purplish-black  color,  being  some  minute  lichen 
growth,  and  covered  with  scattered  tufts  of  beautiful  bro- 
meliaceous  plants,  orchids,  cactuses,  <fec.,  which  give  them 
a  very  picturesque  appearance.  Just  below  the  city  of 
Victoria  proper  there  is  one  of  these  bare  hillsides,  which 
forms  an  exceedingly  attractive  element  in  the  romantic 
scenery  of  the  island. 

Standing  in  an  amphitheatre  among  the  beautiful  hills, 
and  in  full  view  from  the  sea,  forming  a  most  valuable  land 
mark  for  the  sailor,  is  a  conical  mountain,  bearing  on  top  a 
tower-like  mass,  the  face  of  which  is  excavated  on  the  east 
ern  side  by  a  considerable  cavern,  in  which,  it  is  said,  in  old 
times  fugitive  slaves  took  refuge.  This  mountain  is  called 
Jutuquara,*  or  Frade  de  Sao  Leopardo,  according  to  Mouchez. 
Its  height  must  be  700  feet  at  least,  probably  more.  It  is 
represented  in  the  sketch  on  the  preceding  page.  The  gneiss 

*  Prince  Ncu  Wied  gives  a  wretched  drawing  of  this  mountain  in  his  work. 


PROVINCE   OF   ESPIRITO   SANTO.  69 


BOULDER  OF   DECOMPOSITION,    VICTORIA. 

hills,  down  to  a  certain  level,  are  covered,  as  in  the  south,  by 
drift  clay,  in  which  are  imbedded  rounded  and  angular  frag 
ments  of  quartz  and  gneiss.  This  forms  a  rather  coarse 
and  arenaceous  soil,  which  is  not  so  fertile  as  the  drift  soils 
of  Rio.  Decomposition  obtains  here  as  elsewhere.  The 
rocky  shores  and  islands  of  the  bay  are  lined  with  rounded 
masses  of  gneiss,  often  of  immense  size,  and  which,  lying 
loosely  about,  have  all  the  appearance  of  erratic  boulders. 
Similar  masses  we  have  already  found  on  the  shores  of  Pa- 
queta  and  many  of  the  other  islands  in  Rio  harbor.  Some 
times  these  boulders  of  decomposition  are  seen  perched  inse 
curely  on  the  tops  of  other  rocks,  as  is  the  case  near  the  Pao 
de  Assucar.  I  have  seen  no  locality  where  the  formation  of 
these  boulders  is  better  exemplified  than  here.  On  the  hill 
sides  the  surface  of  projecting  rock-masses  undergoes  a  sort 
of  softening,  which  causes  it  to  separate  from  the  undecom- 
posed  rock  beneath,  and  break  up  into  irregular  fragments  by 
the  formation  of  a  system  of  cracks.  Through  these  fissures 
the  water  finds  access.  Each  one  of  the  fragments  decom 
poses  all  round,  and  the  loose  decomposed  material  being 
washed  away,  these  masses  become  rounded,  separate  more 
and  more  from  one  another,  and  sometimes  fall  over,  so 


70  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

as  to  lie  on  the  surface  of  the  soil.  One  must  therefore 
be  exceedingly  careful  not  to  make  blunders  in  examining 
them.  The  loose  rocks  lying  on.  the  side  of  the  Morro  de 
Nossa  Senhora  da  Penha,  and  carefully  represented  in  the 
accompanying  view,  are  boulders  of  decomposition.  Where 
the  rock  undergoing  decomposition  is  on  the  sea-shore, 
and  the  action  of  the  waves  assists  in  the  removal  of  the 
decomposed  material  as  soon  as  formed,  the  effects  produced 
may  be  still  more  striking.  The  easternmost  extremity  of 
the  Ilha  do  Boi,  just  opposite  the  Pcnha,  is  a  projecting, 
sloping  mass  of  compact  gneiss,  as  represented  in  the  follow 
ing  rough  sketch.  The  whole  surface  of  the  gneiss  is  soft- 


DECOHFOStNQ    SURFACE,   ILIIA   DO   BOI. 

ened  to  a  depth  of  several  feet,  and  has  shrunk  entirely 
away  from  the  undecomposed  rock.  This  sheet  has  cracked 
through  perpendicularly  to  the  surface,  and  covers  the  rock 
below  like  a  pavement.  The  action  of  the  waves  has,  as 
represented,  removed  these  loose  fragments  from  over  a 
considerable  area,  which  is  left  very  regularly  rounded  and 
uncracked.  In  other  localities  this  decomposition  and  denu 
dation  have  gone  on  until  only  a  few  of  the  heavier  blocks  arc 


PROVINCE   OF   ESPIRITO   SANTO. 


71 


left  on  the  surface,  presenting  the  appearance  of  erratics. 
On  the  rocks  known  as  the  Pacotes,  lying  a  little  to  the 
southward  of  the  bay,  off  the  coast,  several  large  boulders 
of  this  kind  are  seen  lying,  presenting  the  appearance  of 
buildings.  It  might  be  objected  to  our  theory  of  the  glacial 
origin  of  the  Brazilian  surface-clays  and  pebbles  that  they 
were  formed  by  a  decomposition  of  this  kind  along  the 
shore  of  a  slowly  sinking  continent.  This  would  never  pro 
duce  such  a  coating  of  clay  as  forms  the  drift  of  Brazil, 
and  there  would  certainly  be  associated  with  the  deposits 
stratified  sands  and  gravels  and  silts,  which  are  nowhere 
to  be  found.  Farther  on  we  shall  discuss  in  detail  the  whole 
subject  of  Brazilian  drift. 

Along  the  northwestern  face  of  the  Pao  de  Assucar  runs 
an  irregular  horizontal  line,  as  represented  in  the  woodcut  be 
low.  This  line  consists  of  a  series  of  very  shallow  hollows, 


AUCIENT   SEA-LEVEL   ON   PAO   D'ASSUCAR,   VICTORIA. 

sometimes  continuous,  and  evidently  worn  by  wave-action 
within  comparatively  recent  times.  This  old  wave-line  is  not 
traceable  along  the  whole  extent  of  the  cliff.  I  first  ob- 


72  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL    GEOGRAPHY. 

served  it  in  the  latter  part  of  August,  1865.  In  September, 
1867,  I  revisited  the  locality  shortly  after  a  tide  of  the  full 
moon,  which  had  left  a  well-marked  muddy  line  running 
around  the  base  of  the  Pao  de  Assucar,  and  which  the  suc 
ceeding  tides  had  not  reached.  Measuring  as  nearly  as  I 
could  from  the  middle  of  the  wave-line,  the  mean  of  two 
measurements  gave  me  as  the  height  of  the  old  water- 
level  above  the  high-tide  level  of  the  13th  September  3.16 
metres,  or  a  little  more  than  seven  feet.  From  the  old  line 
to  the  upper  edge  of  the  zone  of  oysters  is  3.56  metres. 
On  the  face  of  the  cliff  of  the  Pao,  in  a  little  cove  on  the 
western  side,  I  cut  a  groove  with  my  chisel  indicating  the 
height  reached  by  the  tide  of  the  13th  September,  1867. 
This  same  old  water-line  may  be  seen  in  several  places  on 
the  rocks  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  channel  below  the  Pao 
de  Assucar,  as  well  as  on  the  face  of  a  cliff  at  the  western 
end  of  the  beach  at  Villa  Yelha,  where,  as  nearly  as  I  could 
judge,  it  had  the  same  height  above  the  sea.  This  wave- 
line  marks  a  period  of  rest  when  the  continent,  stand 
ing  for  some  time  at  the  same  level,  gave  an  opportunity 
for  the  little  waves  of  the  sheltered  port  to  excavate  the 
line.  No  such  line  marks  the  present  sea-level,  and  I 
infer,  from  that  and  other  facts,  that  the  land  is  at  present 
rising. 

The  water  in  the  middle  of  the  bay  is  very  shallow,  and  the 
bottom  appears  to  be  a  bank  that  comes  so  near  to  the  surface 
that  the  sea  sometimes  breaks  over  it.  Between  the  Moreno 
and  Point  Tubarao  the  average  depth  is  about  fifteen  metres. 
The  depth  decreases  on  entering  the  channel  between  the  Ilha 
do  Boi  and  Monte  Moreno,  where  it  is  from  four  to  nine  metres. 
As  the  channel  contracts  the  depth  increases,  and  just  below 
the  Pao  de  Assucar  it  reaches  twenty-four  metres,  while  in  the 


PROVINCE   OF  ESPIRITO   SANTO.  73 

narrowest  point,  at  the  Pao  de  Assucar,  it  is  sixteen  metres. 
In  front  of  the  town  the  depth  varies  from  six  to  ten  metres, 
and  an  excellent  and  spacious  anchorage-ground  is  offered. 
The  water  opposite  the  town  is  turbid,  and  the  littoral  fauna 
is  characterized  by  an  abundance  of  oysters,  covering  the 
rocks  and  piers  and  mangroves,  to  within  a  few  inches  of 
high-water  mark.  This  is  a  very  small  species,  with  exceed 
ingly  sharp,  wavy  edges,  and  used  for  food  in  Victoria.  The 
coves  between  the  rocky  points  along  the  channel  above  the 
bay  of  Villa  Velha  are  muddy,  and  often  lined  by  mangroves. 
Going  down  the  channel  the  oysters  grow  less  numerous, 
and  give  way  to  barnacles  and  mussels.  On  the  north  side 
of  the  cove  at  Villa  Velha  the  arrangement  of  the  principal 
elements  of  the  littoral  fauna  is  as  is  represented  in  the 
following  diagram. 


a.  Zone  of  small  barnacles,  breadth  three  to  four  inches. 

b.  Little  black  mussels,  all  reaching  the  same  upper  level,  but  forming  irregular 
patches,  extending  in  some  places  as  far  as  a  metre  below  high-tide  mark. 

c.  Large  scattered  barnacles,  and  green  sea-weeds  (  Ulvce). 

d.  Coarse  brown  sea-weeds,  corallines,  &c.,  and  oysters. 

The  sea-urchins  begin  above  d,  and  extend  below  low  water  mark,  but  their 
untenanted  nests  occur  up  to.  and  beyond  high-water  mark. 

On  the  beach  at  Villa  Velha,  particularly  near  the  west 
ern  end,  dead  corals  are  thrown  up  in  great  numbers.  In 
deed,  they  are  more  abundant  there  than  on  any  other  South 
American  beach  I  have  seen.  The  commonest  species  is  the 
Mussa  Harttii  Verrill,  which  is  thrown  up  by  the  waves  in 


74  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL    GEOGRAPHY. 

great  quantities,  and  evidently  grows  in  the  immediate 
vicinity  ;  but  owing  to  the  muddiness  of  the  waters  of  the 
cove  I  could  not,  in  the  absence  of  a  dredge,  find  it  alive. 
It  is  usually  drifted  ashore  attached  to  sea-weeds.  So  abun 
dant  is  it  in  the  muddy  beach  at  low  tide  that  it  is  collected 
by  the  inhabitants  of  the  Villa  for  lime-making,  and  is  called 
cachimbo,  or  "  pipe-stem."  This  species  is  almost  invariably 
incrusted  with  beautiful  Bryozoa.  On  the  same  beach  occurs 
a  species  of  Siderastrcsa,  and  a  Pectinia,  or  Symphyllia,  none 
of  which  I  have  observed  living  in  the  bay.  I  have  seen  in  the 
sands  underlying  the  muddy  shores  farther  up  the  bay  shells 
and  corals  which  cannot  now  live  in  the  turbid  and  brack 
ish  water.  Before  the  rise  of  the  land  the  bay  extended 
farther  on  both  sides.  The  river  has  since  narrowed  its 
channel,  and  the  turbid  waters  have  driven  down  the  coral 
fauna  nearer  the  mouth  of  the  bay.  I  doubt  whether  the 
Musses  are  now  to  be  found  living  at  Villa  Velha.  I  believe 
that  the  specimens  on  the  shore  have  been  long  dead,  and 
are  thrown  up  by  storms.  Leaving  Villa  Velha,  and  going 
down  the  bay,  the  oysters  disappear  as  the  shore  becomes 
more  exposed.  Outside  the  harbor,  and  at  the  base  of  Monte 
Moreno,  is  a  little  island  called  Ilha  Baleeiro.  The  tide- 
pools  of  this  island  and  of  the  adjoining  shore  are  rich 
in  corals,  and  at  low  tide  one  may  collect  Hymenog-org-ia, 
Eunicicc,  Plexaurcllce,  and  all  the  species  common  at  Guara- 
pary.  I  am  not  aware  of  the  existence  of  any  coral-banks 
in  the  bay  and  vicinity.  The  Bay  of  Victoria  would  be  a 
rich  ground  for  dredging,  and  so  would  be  the  banks  lying 
off  the  harbor.  In  fishing  I  have  brought  up  on  the  hook 
masses  of  nullipores,  &c.,  loaded  with  life,  and  at  the  mouth 
of  the  bay  I  captured  in  this  way  a  large  many-rayed  star 
fish.  Victoria  appears  to  have  a  reputation  as  a  locality 


PROVINCE   OF   ESPIRITO   SANTO.  75 

for  shells ;  but  the  littoral  mollusk  fauna  of  Brazil  is  very 
poor,  and  the  shells  of  the  beaches  are  badly  broken  and 
worn.* 

The  Rio  Crubixa  enters  the  harbor  of  Victoria  just  above 
the  city.  According  to  the  Diccionario  Geog-rafico,  "  it  de 
scends  from  the  Cordilheira  dos  Aimores  among  rocks, 
amongst  which  is  found  a  certain  species  of  coral  of  a 
dark  color  and  fragile,  with  which  the  Botocudo  women 
are  accustomed  to  decorate  their  heads,  necks,  arms,  and 
legs." 

The  Rio  Santa  Maria  is  a  much  larger  stream,  which 
rises  some  fifty  miles,  more  or  less,  northwest  of  Victoria, 
in  the  Serra  dos  Aimore's. 

On  the  Rio  Santa  Maria  is  located  the  colony  of  Santa 
Leopoldina,  and  as  the  history  of  the  colony  and  of  the 
country  where  it  is  situated  has  an  especial  interest  at  this 

*  I  find  in  one  of  the  letters  of  the  celebrated  Joseph  de  Anchieta  a  state 
ment  that  the  manati  occurred  in  the  bay  of  Espirito  Santo,  and  his  description 
seems  to  me  of  sufficient  interest  to  warrant  my  giving  it  in  his  own  words  :  — 

"  DE  BOVE  MARINO,  —  .Hac  quoad  rationem  temporis,  jam  ad  alia  tran- 
seamus.  Piscis  quidam  est  qucm  Bovem  marinum  dicimus,  Indi  Igiiaraqua. 
nommant  frequens  in  oppido  Spirito  Sancto  et  aliis  versus  Boream  habi- 
tationibus,  ubi  aut  nulla  est,  aut  exigua  admodum,  et  minor  quam  apud 
nos  frigores  injuria:  hie  ingentis  est  magnitudinis  herbis  pascitur,  quod 
ipse  gramina  depasta  scopulis,  quos  a2stuaria  alluunt,  inha;rentia  in 
dicant.  Bovem  mola  corpore  superat,  cute  obtegitur  dura,  elephanti 
colorem  refercnti ;  duo  vellut  brachia  quibus  natat,  habet  ad  pectus  sub 
quibus  et  ubera,  ad  quse  proprios  foetus  nutrit,  os  bovi  per  omnia  similis. 
Esui  est  congruentissimus,  ita  ut  ducernere  nequcas,  utrumque  carnis,  an 
potius  piscis  loco  habcri  dcbeant ;  ex  cujus  pinguedine,  qua?  cuti  ex  maxime 
circa  caudam  inhseret,  ad  modo  igni  fit  liquamen,  quod  jure  butyro  comparari 
et  baud  scio  an  possit  antecellerc  ;  cujus  ad  omnia  cibaria  condienda  olci  vice 
usus  est :  Ossibus  solidis,  et  durissimis  quse,  possint  eboris  vices  gerere,  totum 
corpus  est  compactum."  —  Colleccdo  de  noticias  para  a  historia  e  geoyraphia  das 
nacoes  ultramarinas.  Lisboa,  1812. 


76  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

time,  when  efforts  are  being  made  to  colonize  the  Brazil 
ian  coast,  I  translate  the  following  from  an  account  of  a 
visit  to  the  colony  by  Von  Tschudi.*  He  says:  "We 
crossed  swiftly  the  Lameirao  of  the  bay  and  steered  into  the 
river  Santa  Maria.  Its  current  is  quite  slow,  and  offers,  con 
sequently,  no  particular  hindrance  to  the  ascent.  Not  far  from 
its  mouth  it  receives  from  its  left  bank  the  little  river  Cara- 
pina,  and  somewhat  farther  west  lies,  on  the  right  bank,  the 
Porto  da  Pedra,  consisting  of  a  couple  of  houses  and  a  large 
venda.  Up  to  this  point  there  is  sufficient  water,  even  for 

steamers  of    moderate  draft Following  the   many 

windings  of  the  river  in  ascending  it  to  the  north-northwest, 
we  reached,  after  an  eight  hours'  journey,  the  junction  of 
the  river  Mangarahyba  with  the  Eio  Santa  Maria.  The  lo 
cality  becomes,  the  farther  up  the  stream  one  goes,  more 
and  more  hilly.  The  banks  of  the  river  themselves,  where 
the  character  of  the  lands  allows,  are  in  part  inhabited  by 
Brazilians,  who  have  here  laid  out  little  fazendas  and  occupy 
themselves  principally  with  the  raising  of  horses  and  cattle. 
The  affluents  of  the  Santa  Maria  are  very  unimportant. 
From  the  south  there  empty  into  it  the  Rio  Curipe,  the  Rio 
Tauha,  the  Rio  Una,  and  several  other  brooks  whose  names 
I  have  forgotten ;  on  the  north  the  Rio  Jacuhy,  Rio  Trame- 
rim,  (Jatamcrim  ?)  and  a  couple  of  entirely  unimportant 
little  rivers  near  the  settlements  Murinho,  Aruaba,  and  Pen- 
diuca.  A  rather  extensive  property  is  that  of  Senhor  Jose 
de  Qucimado  on  the  left  bank,  several  miles  up  the  stream 
from  Porto  da  Pedra ;  over  against  it  several  little  islands 
stand  out  upon  the  surface  of  the  stream.  Likewise  on  the 
northern  bank  lies  the  hamlet  of  Santa  Maria,  distant  some 
seven  to  eight  leagues  above  the  mouth  of  the  stream,  from 

*  Von  Tschudi,  Reisen  durch  Brasilicn,  Dritter  Band,  Cap.  I. 


PROVINCE   OF   ESPIRITO   SANTO.  77 

which  it  takes  its  name.  Where  the  Rio  Mangarahy  unites, 
or  makes  barra  with  the  Santa  Maria,  lies  the  extensive 
fazenda  of  Jose*  Claudio  de  Freitas.  From  this  estate  up  the 
river  the  Rio  Mangarahy  is  navigable  for  boats  only  a  short 
distance.  The  navigability  of  the  Rio  Santa  Maria  ends  at 
about  one  league  from  the  mouth  of  the  Rio  Mangarahy  at 
the  Cachoeira  de  Jose',  above  which  rocks  make  the  channel 
of  the  river  impassable 

"  The  Rio  Santa  Maria  rises  westward  from  the  colony  of 
Santa  Leopoldina  in  a  mountain  range,  on  whose  western 
slope  are  the  sources  of  several  of  the  tributaries  of  the  Rio 
Doce.  It  first  becomes  important  after  receiving  the  river 
Mangarahy.  This  last  is  formed  of  a  number  of  mountain 
brooks,  of  which  the  greater  part  rise  in  the  southern  part 
of  the  colony.  It  receives  two  larger  tributaries  on  the 
south,  one  of  which,  the  Rio  do  Medio,  bounds  the  colony  on 
the  south,  and  the  other,  considerably  smaller,  on  the  east ; 
the  Brazo  do  Sul  takes  its  rise  beyond  the  colony.  Its  north 
ern  tributaries  are  very  numerous,  but  are  only  worthy  of  the 
name  of  brooks.  The  most  considerable  are  the  Riberao  da 
Sumaca,  Corrego  Isabel,"  &c.,  &c. 

"  The  margins  of  the  Rio  Mangarahy,  from  its  union  with 
the  Rio  Santa  Maria  to  the  colony,  are  quite  thickly  inhab 
ited  by  an  agricultural  population,  and  much  more  consider 
ably  than  those  of  the  main  river,  because  the  locality  here 
repays  labor  better.  It  appears  that  on  certain  places  on  the 
head-waters  of  the  Rio  Mangarahy  traces  of  wash-gold  were 
found  ;  at  least  the  names  California  de  Dentro  (in  the 
colony),  and  California  de  Fora  on  the  southern  bank  of  the 
Rio  do  Meio,  would  indicate  it.  The  colony  was  founded 
in  1857  by  Germans,  who  settled  on  the  Santa  Maria,  and 
its  branch,  the  Riberao  das  Farinhas.  This  choice  of  locality 


78  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL    GEOGRAPHY. 

proving  injudicious,  another  spot  farther  south,  near  the  Quar- 
tel  Braganza,  was  chosen,  and  settled  also  with  Germans  ;  but, 
through  the  worst  possible  management  on  the  part  of  gov 
ernment  employe's,  as  well  as  the  bad  quality  of  the  lands,  the 
colony  became  demoralized,  and  has  been  a  failure." 

"  The  territory  of  Santa  Leopoldina  is  composed  of  quite 
high,  for  the  most  part  steep,  mountains  and  narrow  valleys, 
rarely  broader  than  the  channel  of  the  river  which  flows 
through  it.  The  soil  consists  principally  of  quartz  sand,  the 
surface  soil,  usually  two  to  three  inches  thick,  is  held  to 
gether  by  a  network  of  fine  roots  with  some  humus.  Only 
in  certain  places,  where  one  of  the  valleys  widens  somewhat 
near  a  stream,  layers  of  rich  soil  brought  down  from  the 
mountains  are  found,  and  here,  naturally,  is  also  the  great 
est  fertility.  The  national  custom  of  preparing  the  soil  for 
the  first  cultivation,  by  axe  and  fire,  is,  for  situations  like 
those  of  Santa  Leopoldina,  the  most  destructive.  The  heavy 
fire  from  the  burning  of  the  felled  forests  destroys  partially 
the  layer  of  humus  and  organic  substances,  and  although 
ashes  remain  as  nourishment  for  the  future  harvest,  it  is  at 
the  same  time  deprived  of  quite  a  deep  layer  of  soil  in  which 
it  can  take  root,  and  which,  in  addition,  the  moisture  binds 
together.  Through  the  cutting  down  of  the  trees  the  steep 
mountain  slopes  are  exposed  to  the  full  influence  of  the 
tropical  rains,  and  through  these  the  best  part  of  the  culti 
vated  fields  is  washed  away  and  carried  to  the  Rio  Santa 
Maria,  which  finally  deposits  it  in  the  Lameirao  of  the  Bay 
of  Victoria.  It  is  a  well-established  fact  that  in  Santa  Leo 
poldina  the  soil,  through  culture,  becomes  more  quickly  un 
fruitful  than  in  any  other  colony.  The  forests  with  which 
the  mountains  of  Santa  Leopoldina  are  covered  do  not  pre 
sent  the  same  majestic  appearance  as  those  of  the  north  and 


PROVINCE   OF   ESPIRITO   SANTO.  79 

south  of  the  province.  They  have  much  more  the  appear 
ance  of  a  weak  second  growth  (Capoeiras)  than  of  a  virgin 
forest.  All  those  plants  which,  to  the  practised  eye  of  the 
Brazilian  husbandman,  bespeak  a  fruitful  soil,  —  such  as  the 
Pao  d'Alho  (Garlic-tree),  Jacaranda  (Rosewood),  Taquara- 
assu  (Bamboo),  <fcc., —  either  do  not  appear,  or  are  rep 
resented  by  very  feeble  specimens.  The  cultivated  plants 
correspond  in  their  development  with  the  forest  vegetation. 
The  corn  remains  low,  and  ordinarily  produces  small  ears. 
The  stalks  often  dry  up  before  the  ears  make  their  appear 
ance.  The  roots  of  the  mandioca  are  smaller  in  the  second 
year  than  they  are  in  the  other  colonies,  and  frequently  be 
come,  according  to  the  testimony  of  the  colonists,  black  and 
useless,  which  fact  is  to  be  accounted  for  by  the  want  of  an 
adequate  thickness  of  humus.  The  black  beans  fail  entirely. 
Equally  unfavorable  is  the  character  of  the  soil  for  the  growth 
of  the  coffee-tree  ;  in  the  first  year,  while  it  yet  needs  but  lit 
tle  nourishment,  it  grows  very  favorably  ;  but  in  the  second  it 
sickens,  and,  as  a  rule,  gives  out.  Colonists  who  had  set 
out  1,000  to  1,200  coffee-trees,  possessed  at  the  end  of  the 
second  year  only  a  couple  of  hundred,  and  so  soon  as  these, 
on  the  following  year,  had  bloomed,  and  the  fruit  had  set, 
the  leaves  rolled  up,  fell,  and  the  little  trees,  without  ex 
ception,  gave  out." 

While  in  Victoria  I  met  numbers  of  colonists  from  Santa 
Leopoldina,  and  all  told  the  same  story.*  There  can  be  no 
doubt  that  a  lamentable  mistake  was  committed  in  establish 
ing  the  colony  in  so  wretched  a  region.  The  lands  of  the 

*  There  is  a  strong  prejudice  against  Germans  in  this  part  of  the  country. 
They  are  represented  as  idle  and  given  to  drinking,  and  I  am  very  sorry  to 
say  that  it  is  fully  confirmed  by  my  acquaintance  with  those  colonists  I  met  in 
Victoria.  Elsewhere  the  Germans  make  good  colonists. 


80  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL    GEOGRAPHY. 

central  part  of  the  province  of  Espirito  Santo  are  very  poor, 
whereas  those  of  the  north  and  south  are  very  fertile  ;  and 
Victoria,  though  possessed  of  a  most  excellent  harbor,  will 
never  in  itself,  in  all  probability,  become  a  place  of  much 
importance  because  of  the  want  of  fertility  of  the  sur 
rounding  country,  and  the  impracticability  of  making 
it  one  of  the  ports  of  the  province  of  Minas  Geraes. 
There  are  some  good  lands,  as  I  shall  have  occasion  to 
show,  lying  to  the  northeast,  and  the  as  yet  undeveloped 
agricultural  regions  of  the  Rio  Doce  are  distant  only  some 
sixty  miles.  The  cutting  of  a  canal  to  unite  the  Doce  by 
water  with  Victoria  has  been  advocated,  but  in  my  judgment 
it  is  not  practicable.  In  the  event  of  the  successful  coloniza 
tion  of  the  Doce,  a  railroad  to  some  point  on  that  river  could 
easily  be  constructed,  so  far  as  the  physical  difficulties  to  be 
encountered  are  to  be  considered.  The  mouth  of  the  Doce 
is  so  dangerous  'to  enter  that  it  will  never  answer  as  a  port, 
and  the  Rio  Sao  Matheos,  lying  to  the  north,  though  it  may 
be  entered  by  small  vessels  and  steamers,  is,  after  all,  ill 
suited  to  be  the  port  of  the  Doce.  By  making  Victoria  the 
outlet  of  the  commerce  of  the  Doce  many  advantages  will  be 
gained.  Sao  Matheos  will  never  answer  as  a  port  for  a 
foreign  trade.  The  products  of  that  region,  as  well  as  of 
the  Doce,  are  more  likely  to  go  to  Rio  than  elsewhere  for 
final  shipment  to  foreign  ports,  and  this  trade  is  now  carried 
on  in  small  vessels  and  coasting  steamers.  The  voyage 
from  Rio  to  Sao  Matheos,  though  often  very  short,  is  uncer 
tain,  owing  to  the  prevalence  of  northeast  winds,  and  the 
passage  of  the  point  of  the  Doce  is  often  difficult.  By  mak 
ing  Victoria  the  port,  the  voyage  to  Rio  would  be  shortened 
one  hundred  miles  at  least,  and  made  very  much  more  easy, 
while  Victoria,  being  a  port  admitting  ships  of  large  ton- 


PROVINCE   OF  ESPIRITO   SANTO.  81 

nage,  might  be  made  the  centre  of  a  direct  trade  with  foreign 
ports. 

At  present  the  province  of  Espirito  Santo,  though 
possessing  abundantly  the  sources  of  wealth,  is  one  of 
the  poorest  and  most  wretched  of  the  Empire.  The 
water  bordering  the  coast  is  very  shallow,  and  just  off 
Victoria  are  the  extensive  banks  of  Victoria,  which  are 
very  rich  in  fish,  especially  garoupas,  pargos,  vermelhos 
(species  of  8erranus~),  &c.,  and  they  are  much  resorted  to  by 
the  fishermen  of  the  coast,  especially  from  Guarapary ;  but 
such  is  the  sloth  of  the  fishing  population  that  nothing  is 
done  to  develop  this  mine  of  wealth,  and  the  Victorienses 
eat  codfish  and  European  sardines  when  they  might  export 
fish  to  Europe  ! 

I  had  an  opportunity  of  fishing  one  day  on  these  banks, 
and  can  testify  to  the  abundance  of  the  fish,  but  I  had  no 
opportunity  of  dredging ;  occasionally,  as  above  remarked, 
the  hooks  brought  up  masses  of  nullipore  rich  in  life,  and 
from  a  depth  of  some  fifty  feet  I  collected  in  this  way  a 
species  of  Pterogorgia,  apparently  new. 

On  the  northern  side  of  the  island  of  Victoria  is,  as  al 
ready  remarked,  a  tidal  channel  running  westward  and  com 
municating  with  the  Rio  Santa  Maria.  This  channel  is  seen 
in  the  accompanying  engraving  of  the  Morro  de  Mestre  Al- 
varo.  It  receives  and  carries  to  the  sea  a  part  at  least  of 
the  water  of  the  Santa  Maria  and  of  the  river  westward.  It 
is  but  an  estuary,  its  waters  ebbing  and  flowing  with  the  tide. 
It  is  very  turbid,  and  oysters  grow  along  its  banks  for  a 
long  distance  above  the  Passagem.  I  am  not  aware  that 
it  is  ever  used  for  the  purposes  of  navigation.  Northward  of 
this  channel  are  a  few  gneiss  hills,  and  thence  to  the  grand 
mountain  mass  of  the  Morro  da  Serra,  or  Mestre  Alvaro, 

4*  F 


82  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

stretches  a  sand-plain  which  extends  eastward  to  the  Ponta 
do  Tubarao  and  westward  to  the  Rio  Santa  Maria,  bounded 
on  the  north  by  the  serra  and  the  steep  slope  of  the  edges 
of  the  tertiary  strata,  which  lie  between  the  serra  and  the  sea- 
coast,  as  seen  in  the  engraving.  This  plain  consists  on  the 
surface  of  coarse  white  sand  without  shells.  The  absence  of 
sea-shells  from  these  marine  deposits  appears  remarkable  at 
first  sight,  but  it  is  no  doubt  largely  owing  to  the  fact  that 
they  have  been  dissolved  out  by  rains.  Where  these  plains 
have  been  cut  through  by  rivers,  shells  are  seen  in  the  lowest 
beds,  as,  for  instance,  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Itabapuana, 
a  few  miles  above  the  Barra.  The  plain  north  of  Victoria 
bears  the  same  kind  of  vegetation  as  that  which  character 
izes  the  plains  farther  south.  Just  previous  to  the  last  rise 
of  the  land  these  plains  were  under  water,  and  the  hills 
of  the  Victoria  group  stood  as  islands  in  the  mouth  of 
a  bay. 

Crossing  the  sand-plains,  a  steep  ascent  of  about  fifty  feet 
at  Carapina  brings  one  to  the  level  of  the  tertiary  plains, 
where  one  leaves  the  sands.  These  plains  are  covered  by  a 
clayey  soil  varying  much  in  fertility.  Near  Carapina  there 
are  some  lands  available  for  cultivation,  and  part  of  the  plain 
is  covered  by  trees.  At  Carapina  the  soil  is  clayey,  with 
very  little  sand,  and  of  a  slate-blue  color ;  but  going  east 
ward  toward  the  sea  the  soil  grows  drier  and  more  sterile. 
The  trees  are  very  scattered  and  coarse-barked,  and  when  in 
clumps  are  free  from  undergrowth.  The  open  plain  is  covered 
by  a  scanty  growth  of  tall  coarse  grass,  and  is  diversified  by 
great  numbers  of  ant-hills,  —  irregularly  dome-shaped  struc 
tures  of  clay,  often  quite  round,  as  hard  as  stone,  and  resem 
bling  boulders  scattered  over  the  plain.  I  presume  that  the 
character  of  the  vegetation  over  this  region  is,  as  elsewhere, 


PROVINCE   OF  ESPIEITO   SANTO.  83 

in  part  due  to  fires,  which,  periodically  set  by  the  inhabi 
tants,  have  killed  all  except  the  most  hardy  trees  and  other 
plants.  The  Rio  Carahype  is  a  little  stream  which  rises, 
according  to  Gerber's  map,  to  the  northwest  of  the  serra  ; 
but  according  to  my  notes  and  observations  it  takes  its  origin 
in  the  hills  north  of  the  serra,  and,  traversing  the  plain, 
reaches  the  sea  a  few  miles  north  of  the  Ponta  do  Tubarao. 
It  is  only  a  respectable  brook,  of  no  service  for  navigation, 
unless  it  be  for  canoes.  It  has  cut  down  through  the  ter 
tiary  beds,  and  has  a  rather  deep  channel.  Its  valley  is 
narrow,  with  steep  sides.  Near  the  town  of  Serra  the  valley 
is  about  one  hundred  feet  in  depth,  showing  that  the  ter 
tiary  clays,  lying  against  a  sloping  bottom,  probably  also 
thickening  towards  the  hills,  form  beds  that  slope  gently 
from  the  hills  to  the  sea.  In  some  localities  near  Serra 
gneiss  is  exposed  in  the  bottom  of  the  river.  Near  the 
hills  the  surface  is  irregular,  and  the  plain  becomes  un 
dulating  and  broken,  —  the  result,  I  believe,  of  the  action 
of  glaciers,  as  well  as  of  streams,  from  the  hills.  The 
soils  of  the  tertiary  lands  bordering  the  high  grounds, 
as  in  the  vicinity  of  Serra  and  along  the  Rio  Reis  Magos,  a 
few  miles  from  its  mouth,  are  quite  good,  and  are  used  for 
the  culture  of  coffee,  cotton,  &c.  The  forests  of  these  regions 
are  more  luxuriant  than  is  elsewhere  the  case  on  the  plains. 
Lying  to  the  north  of  the  river,  and  not  far  from  the  shore, 
is  the  large  and  shallow  Lagoa  Jacune*,  which  during  heavy 
rains  overflows  and  sends  its  waters  into  the  Carahype,  at 
which  time  that  river  widens  its  channel  and  opens  its 
bar. 

The  Mcstre  Alvaro,  or  the  Morro  da  Serra,  is  an  isolated, 
irregularly  pyramidal  mountain-mass  of  gneiss  standing  in 
the  gneiss  plain  a  few  miles  northwest  of  Victoria,  and 


84  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGKAPHY. 

presenting  on  all  sides  very  similar  outlines.  Its  height  I 
should  estimate  at  about  3,500  feet.  It  stands  like  a 
pyramid  on  the  plain,  majestic  and  alone.  More  pleas 
ing  and  symmetrical  in  outline,  and  more  isolated  in  its 
position,  it  is  more  beautiful  than  Tijuca  ;  and,  seen  from 
the  sea,  it  looms  up  grand  and  blue  against  the  tropical  sky 
and  the  far-off  line  of  serras,  which  lie  along  the  horizon  like 
the  front  of  an  approaching  storm.  It  is  densely  covered 
with  forest,  but  on  its  slopes  are  extensive  coffee-plantations, 
which  yield  well.  The  Diccionario  Geografico  says  that  for 
merly  emeralds  and  magnetic  iron  were  found  there.*  In  very 
striking  contrast  with  the  quiet,  sans  souci  air  of  Victoria,  with 
its  grass-grown  streets,  is  the  little  village  of  Serra,  which, 
owing  to  its  being  situated  in  an  agricultural  region,  is  one 
of  the  most  business-like  towns  in  the  province  of  Espirito 
Santo.  This  little  town  is  built  near  the  base  of  the  hills 
on  the  northeast  side  of  the  Mestre  Alvaro.  I  was  told  that 
water  communication  existed  between  it  and  the  Bay  of  Vic 
toria,  but  my  visit  to  the  locality  was  rather  hasty,  and  this 
may  not  be  correct.  Northward  of  the  Mestre  Alvaro 
are  a  few  gneiss  hills  stretching  in  a  line  toward  the  Rio 
dos  Reis  Magos.  West  of  the  Mestre  there  is  much  low 
land.  The  appearance  of  the  coast  from  Victoria  to  within 
a  few  miles  of  the  Rio  Doce,  a  distance  of  nearly  fifty  miles, 
as  seen  from  a  point  at  sea  about  ten  miles  east  of  Riacho, 
is  given  in  the  accompanying  illustration.  The  main  Serra 
dos  Aimore's  is  seen  in  the  background,  stretching  along  like 

*  Saint  Hilairc  ascended  the  Mestre  Alvaro.  He  speaks  of  meeting  with  the 
bamboo  Tnquara-assu  in  the  forest,  at  a  considerable  elevation  above  the  plain, 
and  remarks  that  these  plants  require  humidity  and  considerable  elevation. 
( SAINT-HI LAIRE,  Voyages  sur  le  littoral  du  Br&il,  2nd  Partic,  p.  275.)  Von 
Martius  says  that  the  bamboos  flourish  principally  at  a  height  of  1,800  to 
2,000  feet  above  the  sea. 


PROVINCE    OF   ESPIRITO   SANTO.  85 

a  wall  at  a  distance  of  fifteen  to  twenty-five  miles,  while 
in  front  are  the  isolated  groups  of  hills  of  Victoria,  Mestre 
Alvaro,  Nova  Almeida,  &c. 

The  Rio  Reis  Magos,  or  Apiapitanga,  is  a  little  stream 
which  rises  in  the  serra  northwest  of  the  Mestre  and  empties 
into  the  sea  fifteen  miles  north  of  the  Bay  of  Espirito  Santo. 
Canoes  ascend  it  only  twenty  miles.  It  empties  into  a  little 
bay,  on  the  south  side  of  which,  situated  partly  on  the  level 
of  the  tertiary  plain  and  partly  beneath  the  slope,  is  the 
ancient  village  of  Nova  Almeida.*  The  tertiary  beds  con 
tinue  northward  to  the  port  of  Aldea  Velha,  or  Santa  Cruz, 
north  of  which  they  disappear  from  the  coast,  and  give  way  to 
marshes  and  swamps  that  occupy  the  coast  thence  to  the  Rio 
Doce.  Between  Nova  Almeida  and  Santa  Cruz,  as  well  as  to 
the  north,  the  sandstone  beds  form  in  some  parts  rocky  shores, 
off  which  lie  isolated  skerries,  which  obstruct  both  bays. 

The  river  Santa  Cruz  is,  like  the  Reis  Magos,  a  little 
stream  affording  navigation  for  canoes  only.  Its  principal 
affluents  are  the  Piriqui-assu  f  and  Piriqui-mirim.  It  opens 
into  a  little  bay  like  that  of  Nova  Almeida,  and  which  affords 
a  harbor  for  small  vessels.  The  bays  of  Nova  Almeida  and 
Santa  Cruz  are  noteworthy  in  that  they  open  broadly  to  the 
sea,  and,  unlike  the  mouths  of  the  other  rivers,  are  unob 
structed  by  bars, —  a  circumstance  which  is,  perhaps,  owing 
to  the  fact  that  the  rivers  emptying  into  them  bring  down 
but  little  sediment. 

*  Here  was  established  anciently  a  Jesuit  missionary  station,  with  a  school 
for  furnishing  instruction  in  the  Tupi  language. 

t  Saint-Hilaire  describes  heaps  of  oyster  and  other  shells  bordering  the  river 
Piriqui-assii,  near  Aldea  Vclha,  which  are  without  doubt  Kjcekkenmceddings. 
Similar  shell-heaps,  or  ostreiras,  as  they  are  called  in  Brazil,  are  found  on  the 
coast  of  Sao  Paulo,  and  on  the  Ilha  do  Governador,  in  the  Bay  of  Rio.  They 
often  contain  human  remains,  pottery,  &c. 


86  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL    GEOGRAPHY. 

I  have  sailed  several  times  close  along  the  shore  from  Santa 
Cruz  to  the  Eio  Doce,  but  I  have  never  landed,  and  I  am 
unable  to  describe  it  in  detail,  as  well  as  the  flat  lands  lying 
behind  it,  nor  have  I  any  trustworthy  information  concern 
ing  them.  The  shore  is  bordered  by  a  sand-beach  like  that 
stretching  south  of  the  Parahyba  do  Sul,  and  the  lands  in 
its  rear  are  plains  diversified  by  swamps,  shallow  lagoons, 
and  channels  which,  having  never  been  explored,  are  laid 
down  incorrectly  on  all  maps.  Much  of  this  low  ground  is 
suitable  for  pasturage,  and,  so  far  as  my  observations  go,  the 
greater  part  is  very  heavily  wooded. 

The  great  Serra  da  Mantiqueira,  separating  itself  from  the 
Serra  do  Mar  near  Sao  Paulo,  runs  to  the  north  of  that 
serra,  and  almost  parallel  with  it,  on  the  northern  confines 
of  the  provinces  of  Sao  Paulo  and  Rio  do  Janeiro,  into 
Minas,  passing  near  Barbacena,  whence  it  continues  with 
the  same  trend,  under  various  names,  beyond  the  Rio  Doce. 
To  the  southeast  it  gives  rise  to  a  host  of  little  rivers 
which  flow  into  the  Parahyba  do  Sul,  while  on  the  north 
eastern  side  the  Rio  Grande,  one  of  the  tributaries  of  the 
Parana  system,  and  the  Rio  Doce  take  their  rise.  From 
Barbacena  a  cordilhcira  runs  northward,  separating  the 
waters  of  the  Rio  Doce  from  those  of  the  Rio  Grande  and 
the  Sao  Francisco,  while  another  line  of  serras,  with  a  gen 
eral  northeast  course,  leaving  the  Serra  do  Espinha^o  near 
Diamantina,  forms  a  water-shed  between  the  rivers  Doce 
and  Jcquitinhonha.  The  basin  of  the  Doce  forms  an  un 
equal-sided  quadrilateral  figure,  whose  sides  measure  very 
nearly  as  follows  :  the  northeastern  side  120,  the  southeast 
ern  230,  the  western  190,  and  the  northern  90  miles,  which 
would  make  the  area  drained  by  the  river  very  much  larger 
than  that  of  the  Parahyba  do  Sul.  Gerber  estimates  the 


PROVINCE   OF   ESPIR1TO   SANTO.  87 

area  embraced  within  the  basin  of  the  Doce  at  2,300  square 
leagues.  The  Rio  Doce,  under  the  name  of  Chopoto,  takes 
its  rise  only  a  few  miles  from  Barbacena,  in  the  angle  formed 
by  the  union  of  the  Serra  da  Mantiqueira  and  the  Serra  do 
Espinhac,o.  From  this  point  the  waters  flow  westward  into 
the  Rio  das  Mortes,  a  tributary  of  the  Parana  system,  east 
ward  into  the  Pomba,  one  of  the  branches  of  the  Parahyba, 
and  northward  into  the  Doce.  Its  course  is  at  first  about 
north-northeast  up  to  latitude  19°,  when  it  bends  abruptly 
around  the  Serra  das  Ibiturunas,  and  then  flows  in  a  south 
east  direction  to  the  confines  of  the  province,  when,  after 
passing  a  series  of  rapids  called  the  Escadinhas,  it  reaches 
lower  grounds,  and  is  thereafter  navigable  to  its  mouth. 

This  river  is  of  so  much  importance  that  I  add  a  transla 
tion  of  a  description  of  it  from  the  Diccionario  Geografico, 
Art.  Doce. 

"  The  ancient  geographers  considered  the  Ribcirao  do 
Carmo  as  the  principal  origin  of  the  Rio  Doce,  while  others 
assert  that  it  rises  near  Sabara,  in  the  Ribciro  Santa  Bar 
bara,  which  empties  into  the  Piracicaba.  But  if  one  means 
by  the  source  of  a  river  that  point  which  is  at  the  greatest 
distance  from  its  mouth,  we  ought  to  place  that  of  the  Rio 
Doce  at  twelve  leagues  *  to  the  east  of  the  Villa  of  Barba 
cena,  in  the  spot  where  the  Rio  Chopoto  begins.  This  river 
runs  about  twenty  leagues  in  a  northward  direction,  receiv 
ing  on  its  left  bank  the  Rio  das  Pirangas,  besides  various 
streams  from  both  sides.  It  only  offers  easy  navigation  for 
canoes,  when,  having  watered  the  settlement  of  Santa  Anna 
do  Deserto,  it  inclines  toward  the  northwest,  being  aug 
mented  by  the  stream  Turvo  on  the  right  and  the  Rio 

*  According  to  Gerbcr's  map,  the  source  of  the  Eio  Doce  (Chopoto')  lies  at 
about  five  leagues  east  of  Barbacena. 


88  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

Gualacho  *  on  the  left.  The  waters  of  this  river  make  it 
change  its  course  a  little  towards  the  east,  and  both  united 
precipitate  themselves  over  the  fall  called  Inferno  ;  below 
this  fall  the  Rio  Doce  takes  the  name  it  bears,  and  flows 
gently  on,  receiving  on  the  right  the  little  Rio  da  Casca, 
and  on  the  left  the  Piracicaba,  and,  six  leagues  farther  on, 
it  passes  over  reefs  blackened  by  time,  —  whence  the  name 
Escuro  given  to  this  fall.  Three  leagues  lower  down,  on  its 
left,  are  the  mouths  of  the  rivers  Santa  Antonio  and  Corren- 
tes,  at  a  distance  of  eight  leagues  from  one  another. f  Below 
the  last  of  these  river-mouths  is  the  Cachoeira  Bagauriz, 
where  a  pointed  rock  divides  the  waters  of  the  Doce,  which 
subdivide  again  and  again  before  uniting  anew  in  a  species 
of  basin,  formed,  as  it  appears,  by  several  islets.  This  basin 
extends  for  a  distance  of  two  leagues,  and,  because  of  the 
current,  much  dexterity  in  the  government  of  a  canoe  is  re 
quired  to  reach  it.  At  the  end  of  this  series  of  islets  the  Rio 
Doce  takes  a  more  quiet  course,  and,  the  mouth  of  the  Sac,u- 
hipequeno  passed,  it  becomes  once  more  turbulent,  and  is 
successively  impeded  by  the  little  Cachoeira  d'llha-Braba, 
with  that  of  Fiqueira,  much  more  dangerous,  in  the  Serra 
Beteruna,  where  it  is  necessary  to  transport  the  canoes  by 
land  a  distance  of  fifteen  brayas,  and  with  that  of  the  Re- 
bojo-do-Capim  ;  five  leagues  farther  down  stream  the  Rio 
Sa^uhi-grande  comes  to  swell  it  on  the  left  with  its  tribute 
of  waters,  after  having  watered  the  comarca  of  Serro  Frio. 
Passing  this  tributary,  the  Rio  Doce  receives  from  different 
quarters  an  innumerable  number  of  limpid  brooks,  and 

*  According  to  Eschwcge,  quoted  by  Gcrbcr,  the  Barra  do  Gualacho  is  341 
metres  above  the  sea-level. 

t  On  Gerber's  map  the  mouth  of  the  Correntes  is  only  two  and  a  half  leagues 
below  that  of  the  Santa  Antonio. 


PROVINCE   OF   ESPIEITO   SANTO.  89 

makes  many  turns  before  arriving  at  the  fall  denomi 
nated  Cachoeirinha,  over  which  canoes  pass  without  being 
unloaded  ;  still  farther  down  it  receives  on  its  right  the  Ribe- 
irao  Laranjeira,  and  a  little  beyond,  to  the  right,  the  Cuiate, 
which  empties  into  it,  when  the  main  river  becomes  majestic 
for  the  distance  of  two  leagues,  below  which  various  reefs, 
with  some  falls  of  little  importance,  and  whirlpools  make 
navigation  very  difficult,  without  entirely  destroying  it. 
These  different  obstacles  are  known  under  the  names  of 
Rebojo  de  Joao  Pinto  and  Rebojo  da  Onc,a,  distant  two 
leagues  from  one  another.  The  second  of  these  obstacles 
passed,  the  current  flows  to  the  right  in  the  summer,  but 
to  the  left  in  the  rainy  season.  Half  a  league  onward  the 
bed  of  the  river  describes  some  diagonal  lines,  which  imitate 
a  capital  M,  —  the  name  which  is  commonly  given  to  it ;  and 
one  league  lower  down  various  reefs,  called  the  Cachoeirao, 
intercept  navigation,  so  that  it  is  necessary  to  transport  by 
land  the  canoes  and  goods.  Two  leagues  below  the  fall  of 
Cachoeirao  are  encountered  three  other  whirlpools,  which  are 
not  dangerous,  and  the  island  of  Natividade,  which  divides 
the  Rio  Doce  into  two  unequal  arms.  In  the  dry  season  the 
canoes  are  unloaded  at  this  island  to  pass  the  great  Cacho- 
eira  called  the  Escadinhas,  because  for  one  league  it  is 
formed  of  steps  of  stone.  •  The  canoe-men  carry  the  goods 
on  their  backs  as  far  as  Porto  de  Souza  ;  but  when  the 
waters  abound  the  canoes  descend  without  difficulty  to  the 
Registo  de  Lorena,  near  the  confluence  of  the  river  Mandu 
(Guandu),  which  comes  from  the  south  and  serves  as  the 
limit  to  the  provinces  of  Mirias  Geraes  and  Espirito  Santo, 
and  ascend  it  also  with  cargo,  albeit  with  some  difficulty. 
Between  the  mouth  of  the  Mandu  and  Porto  de  Souza  sev 
eral  rapids  are  encountered,  which  are  descended  with  ease, 


90  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL  GEOGRAPHY. 

but  which  cannot  be  ascended  except  by  hard  rowing,  or  by 
towing  the  canoes." 

The  Rio  Manhuassu  is  quite  a  considerable  little  stream, 
which  enters  the  Doce  from  the  south,  opposite  the  island 
of  Natividade.  Very  little  is  known  about  it,  as  it  flows 
through  a  forest  region  inhabited  by  the  Botocudos.  The 
Guandu  is,  as  above  described,  only  a  little  stream,  and  of 
very  little  importance.  The  country  bordering  the  river 
near  its  junction  with  the  Doce  is  very  flat,  with  deep  allu 
vial,  clayey  soils.  It  is  heavily  timbered,  and  affords  most 
fertile  lands  for  the  agriculturist ;  but  the  Botocudos, 
who  have  been  until  late  years  hostile,  have  prevented  the 
successful  colonization  of  the  country.  A  little  colony  of  a 
few  families  has  been  established  on  the  Guandu,  but  it  was 
not,  at  the  time  of  my  visit,  flourishing. 

The  rocks  exposed  here  in  the  river  channel  are  gneiss. 
I  observed  some  heavy  veins  of  milky-white  quartz  near 
that  place,  but  I  had  not  time  to  examine  them.  Opposite 
Guandu,  on  the  north  side  of  the  river,  there  are  several 
quite  high  gneiss  hills,  and  opposite  Porto  de  Souza  is  a 
bare  hill  not  far  from  the  river.  Gerbcr  has  laid  down  on 
his  map  a  little  river  entering  the  Doce  opposite  the  Guandu, 
which  appears  to  be  a  mistake.  At  Porto  de  Souza  the 
river  valley  is  very  narrow,  and .  the  river  was,  at  the  time 
of  my  visit  in  December,  1865,  not  more  than  250  feet  wide 
opposite  the  port. 

The  port  is  situated  at  the  foot  of  a  series  of  rapids,  at  the 
head  of  navigation.  Even  in  the  dry  season  it  would  be 
possible  at  all  times,  I  was  assured,  for  a  small  steamer  to 
reach  it.  Gneiss  is  exposed  in  the  bed  of  the  river  and 
along  the  banks.  It  is  gray,  coarse,  and  homogeneous. 
Strike  N.  60D  E.  Dip  45°  Northeastward.  In  the  river- 


PROVINCE   OF  ESPIR1TO   SANTO.  91 

banks  the  surface  of  the  gneiss  is  rugged,  and  not  smooth  as 
in  glaciated  surfaces,  showing  that  it  has  been  determined 
by  water  action.  Above  it  are  beds  of  coarse,  yellowish 
sands  and  quartz  gravel,  the  latter  often  very  coarse.  At 
the  Quartel,  or  Barracks,  these  beds  reach  a  level  of  about 
twenty  feet  above  that  of  the  river.  Above  these  is  a 
layer  of  brown,  clayey  earth,  with  scarcely  any  admixture 
of  sand,  but  full  of  little  silvery  mica  flakes.  This  affords 
a  good,  deep,  fertile  soil,  suitable  for  coffee,  corn,  beans, 
castor-beans,  &c.,  &c.  The  forests  of  this  region  are 
quite  luxuriant,  and  are  rich  in  valuable  woods  and 
game.*  All  this  region  is  finely  adapted  for  agricultural 
purposes,  and  some  day  must  become  the  home  of  an  agri 
cultural  population  ;  but  the  Indians  have  so  far  held  sway 
over  it. 

At  the  port  the  left-margin  of  the  river  is  occupied  by 
some  immense  sand-banks,  covered  during  the  rainy  season, 
when  the  river  rises  some  twenty  feet  above  its  ordinary 
level.  Descending  the  river  from  Porto  de  Souza,  the  river 
continues  very  narrow,  deep,  and  rapid,  with  rocky  banks 
for  a  mile  or  more,  the  banks  becoming  lower  as  one  de 
scends.  The  gneiss  is  exposed  in  the  bottom  of  the  banks 
on  both  sides  of  the  river,  and  over  this,  as  at  the  Porto, 
are  alluvial  deposits,  making  the  banks  eight  to  fifteen  feet 
in  height.  At  a  distance  from  the  river  are  gneiss  hills. 
A  quarter  of  a  mile  below  the  Ilha  da  Esperanc.a  the  river 
widens  to  at  least  600  feet.  The  Rio  Mutum,f  laid  down 

*  I  observed  in  the  forest  between  Porto  dc  Souza  and  Guandii  great 
numbers  of  Barrigndo  trees  (Bombax),  some  of  considerable  size. 

t  The  llio  Docc  is  very  rich  in  fish,  a  large  collection  of  which  was  made  by 
my  companion  and  myself  for  Professor  Agassiz.  Prinz  Max.  zu  Neu  Wied 
speaks  of  the  occurrence  of  a  species  of  sawfish  (Pristis  Scrra?)  in  the  lower 
waters  of  the  Docc,  and  says  that  it  enters  the  Lagoa  Juparanaa.  Mr.  Copeland 


92 


GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 


RIO  DOCE  AT  PORTO  DE  SOUZA. 

on  Gerber's  map  as  being  some  three  or  four  leagues  below 
the  Porto,  is  not  more  than  three  miles.  It  is  but  a  brook  ; 
but  it  has  a  fall  near  the  mouth,  and,  being  in  the  midst  of 
a  very  fertile  country,  may  be  of  importance  by  and  by  for 
its  water-power.  On  the  Mutum  the  land  is  in  some  places 
flat,  and  thirty  to  forty  feet  high,  and  may  be  in  part  ter 
tiary  ;  but  I  doubt  it.  On  the  north  side  of  the  river  are 
many  forest-clothed  gneiss  hills,  the  most  of  which  range 
from  600  to  700  feet  in  height.  East  of  these,  a  few  miles 
from  the  Mutum,  and  standing  back  from  the  Doce,  is  a 
prominent  hill  called  the  Morro  do  Padre,  the  greater  part 
of  which  is  bare,  and  which  must  be  at  least  2,000  feet  in 
height.  On  the  opposite  side  of  the  river  is  the  Morro  do 

and  I  took  specimens  at  or  near  the  mouth  of  the  Mutum.  They  certainly  ascend 
to  Porto  de  Souza.  The  canoe-men  said  that  they  ascended  to  the  Guandu.  The 
fishermen  all  said  that  this  fish  secured  its  prey  by  striking  a  lateral  blow  with  its 
long  snout  or  jaw.  On  one  of  the  saw-teeth  of  a  large  specimen  we  took  there 
was  impaled  the  large,  tough  scale  of  a  curumata,  which  could  only  have  been 
pierced  by  a  smart  blow,  when  attached  to  the  side  of  the  fish.  The  fisherman 
said  that  a  true  shark,  caissao  de  denies,  was  found  in  the  Doce. 


PROVINCE   OF  ESPIRITO   SANTO.  93 

Lage  among  gneiss  hills.*  Leaving  the  gneiss  hills  below 
the  little  river  Sao  Joao,  the  land  becomes  lower,  and  the 
hills  flat-topped,  or  with  flat  outlines,  and  a  rather  gentle 
slope  toward  the  river.  Some  of  the  hills  appear  to  be 
gneiss,  others  tertiary.  The  low  lands  bordering  the  river 
are  alluvial.  So  exceedingly  dense  is  the  forest  covering 
this  whole  country,  that,  except  it  be  occasionally  a  bare 
gneiss  rock  by  the  river-side,  a  bare  gneiss  hill  which  is 
never  to  be  mistaken,  or  the  exposures  of  the  alluvial  deposits 
of  the  river,  there  is  no  guide  for  the  working  out  of  geo 
logical  features  other  than  the  general  topographical  out 
lines  of  the  country.  The  clothing  of  forest  tends  very 
much  to  exaggerate  the  height  of  the  lower  lands.  No 
where  in  Brazil,  not  even  at  Para,  have  I  seen  a  more  lux 
uriant  forest  growth  than  that  of  the  Doce.  The  trees,  all 
bound  together  by  llianas,  and  filled  in  with  a  dense  under 
growth  of  palms  and  shrubs,  crowd  down  to  the  water's 
edge,  and  stretch  their  great  vine-draped  branches  out  over 
the  river,  as  if  in  want  of  light  and  air.  The  forest  forms  a 
dense  wall  along  the  river,  —  so  dense  that  the  eye  does  not 
penetrate  into  its  shade,  —  and  one  must  be  armed  with  a 
strong  wood-knife  who  would  enter  it. 

In  these  forests  flourishes  the  Jacaranda,  or  rosewood  {Big- 
nonia  Brasiliana  Lam.),  which  once  abounded  along  the  river, 
but,  having  been  extensively  cut  for  exportation,  is  now  to  be 
met  with  of  sufficient  size  for  cutting  only  at  a  distance  from 
the  stream.  The  principal  article  of  export  from  the  Doce 
has  been  rosewood,  which  has  the  reputation  of  being  of  a 
fine  quality.  The  Cupiuba  (  Copaifera  officinalis} ,  furnish 
ing  a  valuable  wood  and  an  abundant  oil  used  in  medicine 

*  Right  bank  opposite  Ilha  do  Lage.  Gneiss  bands  very  siliceous.  Strike 
N.  80°  E.  Dip  northward  50°. 


94  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

and  the  arts,  abounds  here,  together  with  the  Pao  Brazil 
( Cfzsalpinia  echinata  Fr.  AIL),  noted  for  its  once  costly 
tint;  the  Sapucaia  (Lecythis*),  furnishing  food  to  the  Boto- 
cudos  ;  the  Cedro  (Cedrela*),  Ipe*  (Teccwm),  Pao  d'Arco 
(Big-nonia),  Peroba  (Aspidospermum') ,  Putumuju  (Ptttu- 
mvju),  Yinhatico  (Acacia),  and  species  of  Genipa,  MachcE- 
rum,  Ing-a,  Bowditchia,  <fcc.,  abound.  The  names  of  the 
trees  furnishing  valuable  woods  for  construction  and  cabinet 
work,  many  of  great  beauty  and  durability,  are  legion,  and 
when  the  country  becomes  inhabited,  these  must  become 
a  source  of  wealth. 

Several  species  of  palms,  among  them  the  Airi  (Astro- 
caryuni)  and  Palmetto  (Euterpe) ,.  flourish  in  the  forest, 
while  the  Embaiiba  (Cecropia),  the  food  of  the  sloth,  with 
the  Ubas  and  Heliconias,  form  one  of  the  marked  features 
of  the  vegetation  of  the  river-banks.* 

Game  is  exceedingly  abundant,  among  which  may  be 
mentioned  the  Anta  ( Tapirus  Americanus) ,  whose  tracks, 
together  with  those  of  the  Capabara  (Hydrochccrus  Capa- 
bara),  are  everywhere  seen  by  the  river  margins.  The  Paca 
(Caslogenys  Paca)  and  Cutia  (Dasyprocta)  are  very  com 
mon,  and  are  valued  for  food.  There  are,  at  least,  two  spe 
cies  of  sloth  found  here,  —  Bradypus  tridactylus  and  B.  tor- 
quatus,  —  together  with  species  of  opossum  (Didelphys)  and 
Cuati  (Nasua*).  Armadillos  (Dasypus)  abound  as  else 
where,  and  I  have  seen  at  least  two  species.  Wild  pigs 
Caititus  and  Queixadas  (Dicotyles),  are  found  in  herds  in 

*  Prince  Max.  zu  Neu  Wied  gives  a  plate  representing  a  view  on  the  Rio 
Doce.  It  was  evidently  not  drawn  from  nati;re,  but  it  gives  quite  a  good  idea 
of  the  shore  vegetation.  An  immense  alligator  is  represented  in  the  foreground. 
One  may  spend  a  month  on  the  Doce  and  not  see  a  single  alligator,  and  those 
of  the  Doce  are  very  small. 


PROVINCE   OF  ESPIRITO   SANTO.  95 

the  forest,  and  are  hunted  for  food.  At  least  four  species  of 
Fells  occur  here,  —  Felis  Onga,  F.  concolor,  F.  pardalis,  F. 
macroura,  —  together  with  the  fierce  black  jaguar,  which 
may  be  only  a  variety.  One  or  two  species  of  Cervus  are 
not  uncommon,  together  with  hares  and  squirrels.  Of 
monkeys  there  are  the  following :  Ateles  hypoxanthus,  My- 
ce.tes  ursinus,  species  of  Cebus  and  Callitkrix,  and  Jacclms 
(Hapale)  leucocephalm.  Jacupembas  (Penelope  mar  ail 
Linn.),  Mutuns  (Crax),  Araras  (Psittacus  macoa  Linn.) 
and  other  parrots,  are  very  abundant. 

The  river,  after  leaving  the  gneiss  lands,  widens  very 
much,  and  is  in  some  places  800  to  1,000  feet  wide, 
occasionally  diversified  by  wooded  islands,  and  affording 
stretches  of  river  scenery  of  very  great  beauty.  Francyl- 
vania  is  the  name  of  a  settlement  established  on  the 
northern  bank  of  the  Doce,  at  a  short  distance  back  from 
the  river,  opposite  the  mouth  of  the  little  river  Santa 
Maria,  and  not  far  above  the  mouth  of  the  Rio  Panca. 
Here,  not  many  years  ago,  was  established  a  Brazilian 
colony,  under  the  direction  of  one  Dr.  Franca  Leite,*  which 
proved  a  failure  ;  its  site  being  now  marked  only  by  a  luxuri 
ant  second  growth  (capoeira),  which  on  the  Brazilian  coast 

*  The  history  of  this  colony  is  briefly  as  follows  :  Dr.  Franca  Leite,  some  fif 
teen  or  more  years  ago,  conceived  the  idea  of  establishing  a  colony  on  the  Eio 
Doce,  and  at  Francylvania,  aided  by  government,  he  formed  a  settlement. 
Mills  for  sawing  lumber  and  grinding  mandioca  were  erected,  and  a  consider 
able  amount  of  ground  was  put  under  cultivation.  Establishments  were  opened 
at  the  Povoacao,  at  Monserras,  and  Ipyranga,  where  many  cattle  were  raised. 
But  Dr.  Leite's  plan  proved  visionary.  He  failed  to  get  the  aid  he  demanded  ; 
the  colonists,  dissatisfied,  and  harassed  by  the  Botocudos,  who  were  very 
troublesome  neighbors,  began  to  withdraw,  and  after  an  existence  of  some  three 
years,  the  Botocudos  put  an  end  to  this  colony  by  killing  Ervalina,  Leite's 
brother-in-law,  and  a  slave,  and  burning  the  settlement ;  and  thus  failed  another 
attempt  to  settle  the  Doce. 


96  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

rapidly  springs  up  on  abandoned  lands.  The  soils  in  the 
vicinity  of  Francylvania  are  of  the  most  productive  kind, 
and  the  locality  was  wisely  chosen  for  the  establishment  of 
a  colony. 

Descending  from  Francylvania  to  the  hills  of  Santa  An 
tonio,  the  lands  bordering  the  river  are  still  lower,  and  the 
hills  have  long,  gentle  slopes,  but  no  rocks  are  seen,  except 
gneiss,  on  the  borders  of  the  river.  The  islands  all  consist 
of  sand,  overlaid  by  a  thick  bed  of  brown  soil.  Alluvial 
lands  of  the  same  character  occur  on  both  sides  of  the  river, 
forming  irregular  strips.  These  lands,  which  are  liable  to 
be  overflowed  during  the  enchente,  are  of  the  highest  fertil 
ity,  and  are  especially  proper  for  the  culture  of  sugar-cane. 

A  few  leagues  south  of  Francylvania  the  river  passes 
through  a  region  diversified  by  hills  of  gneiss  several  hun 
dred  feet  high.  On  the  south  side  of  the  river  the  western 
most  of  these  hills  form  a  range  which,  under  the  name  of 
the  Serra  de  Sant'  Antonio,  is  seen  stretching  off  south 
ward,  tying  in  with  the  coast  mountains  of  Santa  Cruz  and 
Nova  Almeida.  In  this  belt  of  country  are  many  lagoas, 
some  of  them  of  considerable  size.  Among  these  may  be 
mentioned  the  Lagua  Sant'  Antonio  do  Norte,  on  the  north 
side,  and  the  Lagoas  Pao  Gigante  and  Limao,  on  the  south, 
all  of  which  communicate  with  the  river  by  small,  black- 
water  streams.  These  lakes  and  streams  have  been  very 
incorrectly  laid  down  on  the  maps,  owing  to  the  fact  that  no 
trustworthy  survey  of  the  river  has  ever  been  published.* 
A  few  miles  farther  east,  and  opposite  the  Barra  do  Rio 
Limao,  is  a  range  of  high  hills,  which  stretches  off  as  far  as 

*  I  am  informed  that  the  river  was  surveyed  and  mapped  for  the  English 
Company  of  the  Doce  by  Mr.  Fred.  Wilner,  but  I  am  not  aware  that  the  map 
was  ever  published. 


PROVINCE    OF    ESP1RITO    SANTO. 


97 


one  can  see  from  the  river  towards  the  northeast.  This 
hilly  country  ends  on  the  river,  just  to  the  east  of  these 
hills,  in  a  sharp  ridge  about  a  mile  long,  escarped  on  the 
eastern  side,  and  known  as  the  Morro  da  Terra  Alta. 


LOOKING   UP  THE   DOCK   FROM    NEAR  LTNITAEES. 

Passing  through  this  country  the  river  is  much  diversified 
by  islands,  and  is  in  some  places  more  than  1,000  feet  wide. 
The  lands  here  vary  much  in  character,  and  are  noted  for 
their  richness.  Over  the  whole  country  spreads  the  heaviest 
forest  growth,  but  at  the  time  of  my  visit  it  was  unbroken 
by  a  fazenda,  and  in  the  hands  of  the  Indians  and  rosewood- 
cutters.  On  leaving  the  hills  the  river  soon  widens  to  at 
least  half  a  mile,  and  is  full  of  beautiful  wooded  islands, 
while  it  is  bordered  by  alluvial  lands  which,  during  the 
enchenle,  are  liable  to  be  overflowed.  These  lands  extend 
to  Linhares.  About  two  leagues  above  this  town  there  are, 
on  the  southern  bank,  a  few  clearings.  I  think  that  no 
where  in  Brazil  have  I  ever  seen  so  rank  and  luxuriant  a 
vegetation.  These  lands  are  covered  with  the  same  brown 
ish,  clayey  soil  we  have  observed  farther  up  the  river. 
5  o 


98  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

This  soil,  which  is  called  mapape,  or  massape,  is  found  on 
all  the  alluvial  lands  bordering  the  rivers  on  the  Brazilian 
coast,  and  is  noted  for  its  great  productiveness. 

On  the  Rio  Doce  those  massape  lands  which  are  of  suffi 
cient  height  to  escape  the  effects  of  the  enchente  may  be 
used  for  the  cultivation  of  almost  any  of  the  products  of  the 
country,  —  such  as  sugar-cane,  tobacco,  coffee,  cotton,  man- 
dioca,  &c.,  —  but  a  large  part  is  likely  to  be  submerged 
every  year  when  the  river  is  full.  The  annual  over 
flow  begins  in  December  with  the  daily  thunder-storms, 
and  lasts  usually  until  March.  During  its  prevalence  the 
river  margins  are  overflowed  for  a  greater  or  less  length  of 
time,  the  freshets  of  March  often  being  as  high  as  those  of 
December.  In  the  year  1833  occurred  an  extraordinarily 
heavy  freshet,  since  when  nothing  like  it  has  been  known. 
The  water  of  the  river,  even  in  the  dry  season,  is  very 
turbid  with  sediment,  and  of  a  light  yellowish-brown  color. 
During  the  enchente  it  becomes  very  much  more  turbid,  and 
a  thin  deposit  of  mud  is  thrown  down  over  the  flat  lands 
every  year.  On  the  subsidence  of  the  waters,  the  vegetation 
left  decaying  over  the  wet  country  is  apt  to  breed  fevers,  and 
the  Rio  Doce  has  had  a  very  bad  reputation  for  being  very 
unhealthy.  It  certainly  is  feverish,  but  I  could  not  learn 
that  it  was  any  worse  than  Sao  Matheos,  or  even  so  bad. 
My  companion  and  I  suffered  nothing  from  our  visit.  The 
river  waters  are  bad,  but  if  allowed  to  deposit  their  sedi 
ment,  and  stand  some  time,  become  very  potable  and  safe. 
The  climate  of  the  Doce  is  warm  and  very  damp,  and  it  is 
upon  the  distribution  of  rain  throughout  the  entire  year  that 
the  luxuriance  of  the  vegetation  seems  to  depend.  The  cli 
mate  is  damper  than  at  Victoria  or  Sao  Matheos.  Came 
secca,  or  dried  salted  beef,  which  keeps  well  elsewhere,  soon 
spoils  here  in  certain  seasons  of  the  year. 


PROVINCE   OF  ESPIRITO   SANTO.  99 

The  massape*  grounds  which  are  liable  to  be  overflowed 
are  used  for  the  culture  of  almost  all  the  products  of  the 
country,  except  mandioca,  cotton,  and  coffee.  The  root  of 
the  mandioca  requiring  more  than  one  season  to  ma 
ture,  is  likely  to  be  injured  by  a  freshet,  so  that  its  cul 
ture  is  confined  to  the  higher  grounds.  These  massape*  lands 
are  especially  good  for  sugar-cane,  which,  as  at  Campos,  is 
not  injured  by  an  overflow,  and  also  for  beans,  Indian  corn, 
rice,  bananas,  <tc.  The  corn  and  beans  are  planted  usually 
in  March  or  April,  so  as  to  become  ripe  before  the  enchente. 
Lands  of  this  character  are  very  extensive,  and  the  Doce 
region  is  adapted  to  sustain  a  very  large  population. 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that  with  the  clearing  of  the  forests 
and  the  tilling  of  the  ground  the  region  would  become  more 
healthy. 

Linhares  is  built  on  the  left  bank  of  the  river,  on  the  top  of  a 
bluff  formed  by  the  projection  southward  of  a  point  from  the 
great  tertiary  plain  lying  north  of  the  Doce.  The  bluff  is,  if 
I  remember  rightly,  about  eighty  feet  high,  and  exposes  beds 
of  white  and  red  clays  of  the  ordinary  type.  On  the  Doce 
these  clays  occupy  near  Linhares  only  a  small  extension  on 
the  northern  bank.  Their  boundary  line  trends  off  north 
ward  to  Sao  Matheos  and  northwestward  to  the  Lagoa  Jupa 
ranaa,*  which  is  held  in  a  basin  scooped  out  of  the  beds  of 
this  formation.  The  lagoa  lies  at  a  distance  of  about  two 
miles  to  the  north-northwest  of  Linhares,  and  communicates 
with  the  Doce  at  Linhares  by  a  very  narrow  and  tortuous, 
but  deep  channel,  called  the  Rio  Juparanaa,  wThich  flows  over 
the  low  wooded  ground  close  to  the  edge  of  the  bluffs.  This 
channel  is  about  fifty  feet  wide,  and,  according  to  Senhor 

*  The  word  "  Juparanaa,"  according  to  Prinz  Neu  Wied,  is  Tupi,  and  means 
"  sea." 


100  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

Raffael  P.  do  Carvalho,  furnishes  at  all  times  at  least  four 
to  five  feet  of  water,  which  would  be  sufficient  for  a  little 
steamer.  It  is  exceedingly  tortuous,  but  it  would  be  a  very- 
easy  matter  to  cut  off  some  of  the  bends,  and  thus  shorten 
very  much  the  distance  between  the  Doce  and  the  lake. 

At  the  foot  of  the  lake  the  river  is  bordered  on  the  west 
side  by  a  narrow  strip  of  low  ground,  north  of  which  the 
tertiary  bluffs  begin  ;  and,  with  the  exception  of  this  little 
stretch  of  alluvial  land,  and  of  a  similar  stretch  at  the  head 
of  the  lake,  the  lake  is  bordered  by  the  bluffs.  Freireiss  * 
gives  the  length  of  the  lake  as  seven  leagues,  width  half  a 
league,  and  circumference  sixteen  to  eighteen  leagues.  The 
Dicclonario  Geografico  (vide  Art.  Juparanari) ,  which  is  here 
manifestly  inaccurate,  gives  the  circumference  as  only  five 
leagues.  According  to  my  estimate,  and  the  information 
of  Senhor  Raffael,  it  must  be  at  least  twenty  miles  long  and 
in  some  places  four  miles  wide.  It  is  very  deep,  and  in 
some  places,  according  to  Freireiss,  the  depth  is  at  least 
eight  to  twelve  klafter  (fathoms) .  The  water  of  the  lake 
and  river  is  of  a  light  milky  color.  The  banks  of  the  lake  are 
eighty  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  high,  as  near  as  I  could 
judge,  the  height  being  greater  at  the  head  of  the  lake. 
Along  the  eastern  side,  between  the  foot  and  the  Fazenda  do 
Guaxe,  white  and  pink  clays  are  exposed  in  the  bluffs, 
and  in  many  places  the  coarse  red  sandstone  of  the  tertiary 
crops  out  at  water-level  or  thereabouts.  About  a  mile  north 
of  Guaxe,  on  the  east  shore  of  the  lake,  and  opposite  a  very 
small  island  of  gneiss,  a  point  called  the  Ponta  de  Ouro,  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  long,  juts  out  into  the  lake.  This  point  is 
about  fifty  feet  in  height,  and  forms  on  the  southern  side  a 
line  of  picturesque  cliffs.  The  strata  composing  this  point 

*  Quoted  by  Neu  Wied,  Rdse  nach  Brasilien,  Vol.  I.  p.  214. 


PROVINCE   OF   ESPIEITO   SANTO.  101 

are  perfectly  horizontal,  and  consist  of  a  white  or  pink  feld- 
spathic  clay,  in  some  localities  with  no  admixture  of  sand, 
but  for  the  most  part  with  a  large  percentage  of  coarse, 
angular,  or  slightly  rounded  sand  and  gravel,  these 
materials  being  scattered  through  the  mass  apparently 
with  no  order  whatever.  The  lowest  beds  are  the  most 
sandy.  The  red  color  is  due  to  ferric  oxide,  which  is  dis 
tributed  through  the  mass  very  unequally,  sometimes  ce 
menting  together  portions  of  the  beds  into  stalagmite- 
like  masses  penetrating  the  clays.  The  tint  is  sometimes 
yellow.  Under  the  clays  is  the  coarse  red  sandstone 
which  occurs  in  very  solid  and  compact  masses,  in  which 
case  the  rock  is  regularly  and  evenly  cemented.  The 
bluffs  are  steep  and  wooded,  as  also  is  the  plain  above. 
Small  farms  are  located  along  the  lake,  with  an  occasional 
little  fazenda.  The  slopes  of  the  bluffs  are  found  to  yield 
very  abundantly,  and  to  produce  excellent  coffee.  The 
LagQa  Juparanaa  is,  like  the  Doce,  very  full  of  fish.  I 
found  here  two  species  of  Cagados,  probably  the  Emys 
depressa  and  Emys  radiolata  of  Max.  zu  Neu  Wied.  A 
species  of  Unio  is  abundant  in  the  lake,  and  is  said  to  be 
used  for  food.  I  saw  heaps  of  the  shells  lying  in  front  of  a 
fisherman's  hut,  but  the  animal  may  have  been  used  for  bait. 
At  the  head  of  the  lake  there  enters  a  little  river  called 
the  Sao  Raffael.  It  rises  in  the  forest,  in  the  country  of  the 
Botocudos,  and  has  never  been  explored.*  Gerber's  map 
represents  a  Rio  Preto  as  flowing  into  the  Juparanaa,  but 
no  such  river  exists.  The  lake  also,  as  laid  down  on  his 
map,  is  too  small,  and  the  island  is  too  large.  It  is  really 
only  a  rock.  The  head  of  the  lake  cannot  be  distant  from 

*  Senhor  Raffael  says  that  above  it  divides  into  three  branches,  and  that  it  is 
rich  in  fish,  but  that  it  contains  no  surubims  (Platystoma). 


102 


LAGOA  JUPARANAA,  LOOKING  TOWARDS  THE  OUTLET. 

the  city  of  Sao  Matheos,  according  to  the  best  information  I 
have  received,  more  than  three  to  four  leagues.  The  bar 
of  the  Doce  is  so  bad  as  practically  to  forbid  the  entry  of 
vessels,  although  they  sometimes  cross  it ;  but  the  river  is 
navigable  for  a  little  steamer,  during  the  whole  year,  from 
its  mouth  to  Porto  de  Souza,  a  distance  of  ninety  miles  ;  so 
also  is  Lake  Juparanaa.  Until  a  railroad  is  built  to  Vic 
toria  it  would  seem  best  to  construct  a  good  wagon-road 
through  the  forest,  from  the  head  of  lake  Juparanaa,  over 
the  plain,  to  Sao  Matheos,  and  make  Sao  Matheos  the 
port  of  the  Doce ;  but  Sao  Matheos  can  never  offer  the 
same  advantages  as  a  port  that  Victoria  docs. 

The  lands  surrounding  the  lake  are  plains  covered  by 
forest,  but  owing  to  the  dryness  and  little  fertility  of  the 
soil,  it  is  not  very  luxuriant.  The  soils  of  these  high  lands, 
however,  vary  very  much  in  quality,  in  some  localities  being 
excellent  for  cotton,  mandioca,  &c.,  in  others  sandy  and 
barren.  Rosewood  abounds  in  these  forests,  and  is  quite 
extensively  cut. 


PROVINCE   OF   ESPIRITO   SANTO. 


103 


The  higher  lands  near  Linharcs  appear  to  be  fertile,  and 
I  have  nowhere  seen  more  vigorous  and  luxuriant  crops 
of  sugar-cane,  bananas,  &c.,  than  I  saw  growing  on  the 
plantation  of  Senhor  Alexandre,  by  the  river-side,  just 
below  the  town,  and  situated  on  alluvial  grounds.  The 
river  here  appears  to  be  bordered  by  three  terraces,  but  I 
had  no  time  to  examine  them  closely. 

Lying  almost  parallel  with  the  river,  and  to  the  northeast 
of  Linharcs,  is  a  very  beautiful,  narrow  lagoon,  which  looks 
like  an  old  river  valley,  and  is  called  the  Lagoa  do  Aviso. 
It  is  said  to  empty  into  the  Doce  to  the  east  of  Linhares. 
There  are  other  lakes  in  the  vicinity. 


LAGOA   DO  AVISO. 


From  Linhares  the  river  runs  off  in  a  southeasterly  direc 
tion  to  the  sea.  The  stream,  is  wide  and  interspersed 
with  many  islands.  The  shores  are  low,  forest-clothed,  and 
overflowed  during  the  annual  freshet.  At  the  mouth  the 
river  widens  very  much  and  enters  the  sea  obliquely,  from 
behind  a  long  sand-spit  which  extends  southward  from  the 
left  bank.  The  river  just  inside  the  mouth  forms  a  fine  sheet 


104  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

of  water,  but  it  is  very  shallow,  the  bottom  being  shifting, 
so  that  the  soundings  vary  with  the  quantity  of  water  in 
the  river.  So  great  is  the  amount  of  water,  and  so  shal 
low  is  the  river,  that  the  tide  is  not  felt  inside  the  mouth, 
and  the  water  is  always  fresh.  Great  numbers  of  drift 
trees  are  brought  down  during  the  freshets,  and  the  sea- 
beaches  of  the  vicinity  are  strewn  with  them.  The 
mouth  is  wide,  shallow,  and  obstructed  by  a  bar,  on  which 
the  waves  break  fearfully.  It  is  always  difficult,  and 
sometimes  for  weeks  together  impossible,  to  enter  the 
Doce,  and  very  many  vessels  have  been  lost  in  the  attempt.* 
Just  northeast  of  the  bar  are  extensive  banks,  which  ex 
tend  two  or  three  miles  out  to  sea.  There  is  a  little 
hamlet  on  the  right  bank  of  the  river,  near  its  mouth, 
and  a  short  distance  above,  on  the  left  bank,  is  a  small  set 
tlement  called  the  Povoagao.  The  lands  here  are  sandy, 
but  they  arc,  for  such  soils,  quite  fertile,  producing  man- 
dioca,  cotton,  mamona,  sugar-cane,  &c.  The  coast  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Doce  projects  considerably  to  the  eastward, 
and  there  is  usually  a  strong  current  near  the  shore,  de 
pending  for  its  direction  upon  the  wind. 

Many  years  ago  an  English  company  was  formed  to  open 
the  river  Doce  as  a  highway  for  navigation  into  Minas,  but, 
from  the  above  description  of  the  river,  any  one  can  see  how 
unfit  it  is  for  navigation  above  the  falls.  The  enterprise  of 
course  proved  a  failure,  and  a  curse  has  undeservedly  fallen 
on  the  Doce.  At  present  a  very  small  commerce  in  salt  is 
carried  on  between  the  coast  and  various  points  along  the 
river,  the  salt  being  transported  in  canoes.  The  journey 
from  the  sea  to  Correntes,  a  town  situated  on  the  river 
of  the  same  name,  an  affluent  of  the  Doce,  a  distance 

*  The  coasting  steamers  occasionally  enter  the  Doce. 


PROVINCE   OF   ESPIRITO   SANTO.  105 

in  all  of  about  two  hundred  miles,  consumes  over  forty 
days.  From  the  Barra  to  Porto  de  Souza  the  journey 
is  easily  performed ;  but  above  that  point  the  canoes 
must  be  towed  and  poled  with  the  greatest  difficulty, 
and  at  very  short  intervals  the  load  has  to  be  removed, 
so  as  to  allow  the  empty  canoe  to  pass  a  waterfall. 
On  the  coast  a  bag  of  salt  of  about  sixty  pounds  costs 
2 $000  (two  milreis,  or  about  a  dollar).  In  Minas  it  costs 
eight  milreis  or  more.  As  nearly  as  I  could  learn,  the 
whole  enterprise  of  the  English  company  was  conducted 
with  great  extravagance  and  want  of  good  management, 
so  that  it  is  no  wonder  it  failed.  It  is  useless  to  think 
of  making  the  Rio  Doce  the  highway  to  Minas,  and  of 
using  the  mouth  of  the  river  as  a  port.  The  country  bor 
dering  the  Rio  Doce  and  the  Lake  Juparanaa,  and  extend 
ing  westward  for  some  distance  beyond  Porto  de  Souza, 
must  be  treated  as  a  great  agricultural  region  by  itself. 

Since  my  visit  to  the  Doce  quite  a  number  of  Amer 
ican  families  have  settled  on  the  river,  forming  a  little 
colony,  which,  so  far  as  I  can  ascertain,  promises  to  be  a 
success.  The  colonists  came  from  the  Southern  States, 
from  a  climate  not  so  very  different  from  that  of  Espirito 
Santo,  and  those  that  I  saw  looked  like  men  through  whose 
hands  a  better  future  might  be  worked  out  for  the  Doce. 
We  hope  that  their  enterprise  may  be  successful.* 

Northward  to  the  mouth  of  the  Rio  Sao  Matheos  stretches 
a  sand-beach,  broken  only  by  one  or  two  river-mouths, 
and  back  of  which,  between  the  shore  and  the  tertiary 
bluifs,  is  a  wide  area  of  swamps  and  lagoons,  — a  region  al- 

*  In  the  spring  of  1868  there  were  on  the  Doce,  according  to  Burton,  four 
hundred  Americans,  who  were  doing  well,  and  were  "  studying  coffee." 
(Highlands  of  Brazil,  Vol.  I.  p.  5.) 


106  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

most  impassable,  and  never  yet  mapped.  Just  north  of  the 
Doce  and  near  the  coast  is  a  large  lagoon  called  Monserras. 
During  the  dry  season  this  is  separated  from  the  sea  by  the 
sand-beach,  but  when  the  rains  come  it  opens  for  itself  a 
channel  to  the  sea,  which  channel  remains  open  until  the 
dry  season  returns.*  A  more  waste  and  desert  region  than 
the  shore  between  the  Doce  and  Sao  Matheos  can  scarcely  be 
imagined ;  but  it  is  the  high-road,  and  must  be  followed  in 
going  to  Sao  Matheos.  The  weary  sand-beach  stretches  ahead 
to  the  horizon,  dancing  in  the  hot  air,  and  dimmed  by  the  drift 
ing  spray  from  the  ocean  breakers,  that  pour  their  thunder 
ing,  blinding  surges  on  the  desolate  shore.  A  line  of  monoto 
nous  sand-heaps,  like  a  great  tumbling  billow  ready  to  burst 
on  the  low  grounds  behind,  runs  parallel  with  the  beach, 
bare,  or  scantily  covered  by  tufts  of  grass,  dwarf  palms, 
&c.,  —  no  shade,  no  water.  The  road  is  a  strip  out  of  Sahara. 
On  one  side  is  the  sea,  on  the  other  a  miasmatic,  pathless 
swamp.  Ordinarily  the  lagoons  lie  at  some  little  distance 
from  the  shore,  and  are  separated  from  it  by  a  dense,  impene 
trable  thicket ;  but  at  Pitanguinha  there  is  a  little  lagoon  by 
the  shore  where  water  maybe  obtained.  The  sands  on  these 
beaches  are  coarse,  and  do  not  pack  so  as  to  afford  a  good 
footing.  Animals  sink  at  every  step,  and  the  journey  from 
the  Doce  to  the  Sao  Matheos  is  excessively  fatiguing,  the 
traveller  being,  in  addition,  liable  to  suffer  severely  from 
thirst.  About  thirty  miles  north  of  the  Doce  is  Barra  Secca, 
where  a  little  river,  draining  the  marshes  of  the  interior, 
empties  into  the  sea.  Just  where  it  takes  its  rise,  and  what 
is  its  course,  no  one,  even  of  the  immediate  vicinity,  knew. 
It  is  usually  set  down  as  draining  a  lake  called  Tapada  ;  but 

*  When  I  went  to  the  Doce  from  Silo  Matheos  this  bar  was  closed,  but  on 
my  return,  in  the  latter  part  of  December,  it  was  open,  and  dangerous  to  cross. 


PROVINCE   OF   ESPIRITO   SANTO.  107 

that  is  not  possible,  for  the  lake  lies  only  a  few  hundred 
yards  from  the  mouth  of  the  river,  and  at  a  very  much  high 
er  level.  The  tide  ebbs  and  flows  in  the  Secca  and  evidently 
runs  up  a  long  distance.  The  river  comes  from  the  south 
and,  just  before  reaching  the  sea,  flows  along  in  the  rear  of 
the  broad  beach  ridge,  from  behind  which  it  escapes  at  the 
barra,  and,  cutting  a  channel 'across  the  beach,  flows  into  the 
sea.  The  beach  is  constantly  changing  by  the  drifting  of  the 
sands,  through  the  action  of  the  wind  and  waves,  so  that  the 
barra  is  as  constantly  shifting,  never  remaining  long  in  one 
place.  With  a  northeast  wind  it  shifts  to  the  south,  with  a 
southeast  wind  to  the  north,  while  an  easterly  storm  some 
times  closes  it  entirely.  The  river  is  so  shallow  that  it  may 
be  forded  at  low  tide,  whence  the  name  Barra  Secca.  At 
the  time  of  my  visit,  in  1865,  there  were  exposed  in  the  banks 
of  the  stream  at  the  barra  strata  of  sandstone  which  were  laid 
bare  by  the  washing  away  of  the  beach-sands.  These  sand 
stones  were  formed,  below  high-water  mark,  by  the  cement 
ing  together  of  the  sands  of  the  lower  part  of  the  beach  by 
the  lime  of  shells,  &c.  They  preserved  the  characteristic 
beach  structure,  and  were  full  of  shells  ;  but  of  these  sand 
stones  I  shall  have  more  to  say  further  on. 

The  lands  behind  the  beach  at  Barra  Secca  are  flat  and 
sandy,  and,  though  cultivated  to  a  very  slight  extent,  are  of 
no  real  value.  The  lower  grounds  are  damp,  furnished  with 
a  soil,  and  are  largely  covered  with  a  rather  luxuriant  forest- 
growth,  back  of  which  is  the  picturesque  Lagoa  Tapada,  a 
large,  irregular,  shallow  sheet  of  clear  water,  margined  by 
grass-covered  meadows  and  forest.  Its  waters  drain  off 
northward  into  the  Mariricu. 

On  the  beaches  between  the  Rio  Doce  and  the  Sao 
Matheos  the  traveller  sees,  at  frequent  intervals,  the  shells 


108  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

and  skeletons  of  sea-turtles,  and  at  certain  times  of  the 
year  there  is  no  sight  more  common  than  that  of  a  flock  of 
Urubus  feeding  upon  the  decaying  carcass  of  a  turtle,  re 
cently  killed  by  some  hunter  for  the  sake  of  its  flesh,  fat,  or 
ovarian  eggs.  Most  abundant  of  the  four  species  which 
occur  on  the  coast  is  the  Loggerhead  Turtle,  Thalasso- 
chelys  cauana  Fitz. 

This  species  is  very  common  on  the  Brazilian  coast. 
One  may  frequently  see  it  floating  lazily  about  on  the  sur 
face  of  the  sea,  inside  the  Bay  of  Rio,  as  well  as  outside  the 
bar,  but  there  are  regions  where  it  is  especially  abundant, 
and  to  certain  beaches  it  resorts  in  great  numbers,  at  par 
ticular  seasons  of  the  year,  to  deposit  its  eggs.  Perhaps  one 
of  the  most  noteworthy  of  these  is  the  beach  between  the 
Doce  and  Sao  Matheos.  In  the  month  of  November,  1865, 
I  found  the  turtles  laying  in  the  vicinity  of  Barra  Secca,  and 
Mr.  Copeland  and  I  made  a  short  stay  at  the  place  to  capture 
some  specimens  for  the  Museum  of  Comparative  Zoology. 
In  the  daytime  the  turtles  remain  out  at  sea,  but  in  the  night 
the  females  come  on  shore  to  lay  their  eggs.  According  to 
the  statements  of  the  fishermen,  as  well  as  to  my  own  obser 
vations,  they  come  in  shore  when  the  tide  is  low,  and  having 
gained  the  beach,  creep  to  the  upper  part  beyond  high-tide 
level  before  they  make  their  nests. 

I  have  repeatedly  watched  the  movements  of  these  animals. 
They  walk  by  means  of  their  great  flippers,  assisted  by  their 
short  hind  legs,  with  a  very  slow,  hitching  motion,  the  body 
dragging  on  the  sand.  The  flippers  and  feet  make  two  irreg 
ular  grooves  in  the  sand,  three  or  four  feet  apart,  which  look 
as  if  a  great  wagon  with  cogged  wheels  had  been  driven  over 
the  beach.  These  tracks  are  so  prominent  that  one  may  see 
them  even  on  a  dark  night,  and  they  serve  to  tell  the  hun- 


PROVINCE   OF   ESPIEITO   SANTO.  109 

ter  whether  the  turtle  has  returned  to  the  sea  or  not,  and  to 
guide  him  to  her,  or  to  her  nest.  While  laboriously  working 
her  way  up  the  beach,  the  turtle  keeps  her  head  stretched 
out,  and  from  time  to  time  snuffs  and  sighs  as  if  fatigued, 
and  now  and  then  she  rests.  So  intent  is  the  animal  upon 
the  accomplishment  of  her  mission  to  land,  that  one  may 
mount  on  her  back  without  alarming  her  ;  but  if  too  much 
disturbed,  she  hastily  turns  about  and  makes  her  way  as  fast 
as  possible  to  the  sea.  Arrived  at  the  top  of  the  beach, 
sometimes  just  above  high-water  mark,  sometimes  a  few  feet 
higher  up  among  the  sand-hills,  at  others,  even  on  the  land 
ward  side  of  the  sand-ridge,  she  stops  and  prepares  to  make 
her  nest.  This  she  accomplishes  by  means  of  her  flat  hind 
feet,  and  after  this  manner :  She  digs  up  the  sand  with  one 
foot,  and  throws  it  to  one  side.  Then  she  uses  the  other 
foot  in  the  same  manner,  working  with  one  foot  after  the 
other,  alternately,  like  a  machine,  as  Neu  Wied  has  re 
marked.*  The  sand  which  would  be  likely  to  fall  back 
again  is  moved  out  of  the  way  by  the  foot,  which  moves 
forward  before  it  is  thrust  down  to  deepen  the  hole,  and 
scrapes  the  sand  to  one  side.  The  whole  is  a  very  slow 
operation,  occupying  several  minutes.  During  this  time  the 
animal  remains  with  her  head  stretched  forward,  with  very 
little  motion  of  the  body,  and  occasionally  giving  a  hiss  or 
breathing  heavily.  In  this  way  I  have  seen  a  perpendicular 
hole  dug  in  the  sand  a  foot  and  a  half  or  two  feet  deep, 
and  a  foot  in  diameter.  The  animal  then  remains  quiet, 
and  the  deposition  of  the  eggs  soon  begins.  While  one 
individual  was  laying,  I  caught  the  eggs  in  my  hand,  as  they 
fell.  They  were  laid  two  by  two,  or  one  by  one,  at  an  inter- 

*  Neu  Wied  has  in  his  Journey  a  plate  of  a  turtle  laying.     The  figure  of  the 
turtle  is  very  inaccurate,  and  the  eggs  are  represented  as  of  different  sizes. 


110  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

val  of  about  half  a  minute,  falling  in  a  heap  into  the  hole,  to 
the  number,  if  I  remember  rightly,  of  143.  A  nest  almost 
always  contains  over  100  eggs,  and  usually  from  120  to  150. 
When  the  laying  was  going  on,  the  animal  appeared  per 
fectly  unconscious  of  the  presence  of  persons  about  her. 
So  soon  as  it  was  accomplished,  she  rested  a  moment,  and 
then,  with  her  hind  feet,  scraped  the  sand  back  into  the  hole 
until  it  was  full.  After  this  the  body  was  raised  a  little,  and 
sand  was  scraped  underneath  it.  The  body  then  descended, 
packing  the  sand  tightly,  and  this  operation  was  repeated 
several  times.  It  was  an  exceedingly  interesting  sight  to 
see  this  stupid  reptile  performing  so  strange  an  act,  one  to 
which  she  seemed  to  be  prompted  by  something  more  than 
a  blind  instinct.  The  whole  operation  finished,  she  turned 
round  and  started  for  the  sea,  when  we  captured  her,  by 
taking  hold  of  the  shell  behind,  and  upsetting  her  on  her 
back,  in  which  position  it  is  impossible  for  a  sea-turtle  to 
turn  over.  In  upsetting  one  of  these  animals  two  persons 
are  usually  required.  As  soon  as  the  animal  is  alarmed, 
she  thrusts  her  fore  paddles  into  the  sand  and  throws  it 
behind  her,  so  that,  if  one  does  not  take  the  precaution 
to  close  his  eyes,  he  is  likely  to  be  blinded. 

The  eggs  are  rather  larger  than  those  of  a  hen,  round, 
and  covered  with  a  tough,  white,  parchment-like  skin.  The 
albuminous  portion  is  clear,  and  does  not  become  hard  in 
boiling.  The  yolk  is  very  large,  deep  yellow,  and  is  the 
only  part  eaten.  I  found  these  eggs  very  palatable,  though 
they  tasted  somewhat  fishy.  The  Brazilians  are  very  fond 
of  them,  and,  while  the  turtles  are  laying  in  November,  De 
cember,  January,  resort  to  the  shore  to  collect  them,  filling 
in  a  short  time  the  great  panniers  of  their  mules.  They 
discover  the  nests  by  thrusting  a  long  stick  into  the  sand, 


PROVINCE   OF  ESPIRITO   SANTO.  Ill 

and  then  dig  out  the  eggs  with  their  hands.  The  nests 
are,  I  am  told,  sometimes  despoiled  by  the  Teiii  lizard- 
(Teius  monitor  Merr.).  The  Brazilians  cook  the  eggs  in 
various  ways,  but  generally  by  boiling.  The  yolk  is  usually 
mixed  with  sugar  and  farinha.  They  are  not  so  satisfying 
as  the  egg  of  the  hen,  and  one  may  eat  a  dozen  at  a  meal. 
They  make  very  good  omelets.  The  eggs  which  remain 
unmolested  are  hatched  by  the  heat  of  the  sun,  in  about 
twenty  days,  it  is  said,  when  the  young  turtles  dig  their 
way  to  the  surface  and  escape  to  the  sea,  where  the  most 
of  them  fall  a  prey  to  sharks  and  other  fish.  The  eggs 
are  laid  at  such  a  depth  below  the  surface  as  to  insure  a 
uniform  temperature,  for  on  the  surface  the  sands  are 
exposed  during  the  day  to  a  fierce,  burning  heat,  while  in 
the  night  they  cool  down  very  much,  the  diurnal  variation 
of  temperature  amounting  to  thirty  degrees  or  more.  At 
the  depth  of  a  foot  and  a  half,  or  two  feet,  the  temperature 
is  quite  uniform,  and  would  stand  in  December  or  January 
at  about  eighty  degrees.  I  observed  that  the  dogs  at  Barra 
Secca,  when  it  was  cold  at  night,  scraped  away  the  upper 
layer  of  sand  near  my  tent,  and  lay  down  in  the  warm 
sand  below,  and  I  learned  a  useful  lesson  from  them, 
so  that,  when  benighted  and  unsheltered,  I  could  find  a 
warm  bed  on  the  sea-shore.  The  strength  of  the  turtle 
is  enormous.  A  stout  stick  placed  in  its  bill  was  crushed 
like  a  straw.  The  flesh  is  dark  red  and  coarse.  We  had 
it  cooked  in  various  ways,  but  did  not  find  it  very  good, 
though  we  were  obliged  to  use  it  for  food.  The  animal  is 
usually  very  fat,  the  fat  being  of  a  greenish-yellow  color, 
and  oil  is  tried  from  it  for  various  purposes  by  the  people 
of  the  coast.  The  ovaries  were  always  full  of  eggs  in  all 
stages  of  development.  These  ovarian  eggs  are  much  es- 


112  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

teemed  by  the  inhabitants,  and  the  turtles  are  killed  in 
great  numbers  for  their  sake.  All  along  the  beaches  one 
may  see  carcasses  from  which  the  plastron  has  been  removed 
to  allow  the  ovaries  to  be  got  at.  Mr.  Copeland  and  I 
prepared  some  six  specimens  of  the  species  of  turtle  above 
described  in  the  shape  of  skeletons,  shells,  skins,  and  alco 
holic  preparations  of  head  and  flippers,  for  the  Museum  of 
Comparative  Zoology. 

The  food  of  this  turtle  appears  to  consist  of  fish,  shell 
fish,  sea-urchins,  &c.  I  have  observed  growing  on  the  cara 
paces  of  these  animals  a  large  barnacle,  Coronula,  like  that 
which  grows  on  the  back  of  the  whale  on  the  same  coast. 

Prince  Max  zu  Neu  Wied,  on  his  journey  northward  from 
the  Doce,  saw  a  living  sea-turtle  near  Barra  Secca,  and 
watched  her  lay  her  eggs.  He  has  referred  this  specimen 
to  the  Green  Turtle,  Chelonia  mydas,  but  I  do  not  think  that 
his  determination  is  satisfactory.  The  specimens  which 
Mr.  Copeland  and  I  collected  have  been  examined  by  Mr. 
J.  A.  Allen,  of  the  Museum  of  Comparative  Zoology,  and 
have  all  proved  to  be  Loggerheads.  I  do  not  think  I  saw  a 
single  mydas  on  the  Brazilian  coast ;  at  all  events,  all  the 
sea-turtles  I  examined  were  different  from  the  green  turtles 
brought  into  the  New  York  market. 

Eretmochelys  imbricata  Fitz.  (Tartaruga  de  Pente  of  the 
Brazilians.)  This  species  occurs  quite  abundantly  on  the 
Brazilian  coast.  It  is  taken  at  the  Abrolhos  together  with 
the  Cauana,  and  its  thick  scales  are  used  to  some  extent 
for  the  manufacture  of  ornaments.  One  may  occasionally 
find  it  in  the  markets  of  Pernambuco  and  Bahia,  and  at  the 
latter  city  my  friend,  Dr.  Anto.  de  Lacerda,  had  one  which 
he  kept  captive  in  the  pool  of  a  fountain  in  his  garden. 

Sphargis  coriacea  Gray.     (Leather-back  Turtle.)     Neu 


PROVINCE   OF  ESPIRITO   SANTO.  113 

Wied  mentions  hearing  an  immense  sea-turtle  with  a  leath 
ery  skin  spoken  of,  and  which  he  supposed  might  be  Testudo 
coriacea  Linn.  ;  but  he  did  not  see  a  specimen.  The  fisher 
men  described  to  me  a  similar  turtle,  and  their  description 
would  tend  to  confirm  Neu  Wied's  opinion.  I  did  not  see  a 
specimen. 

Chelonia  mydas  Schu.  (Green  Turtle.)  According  to 
Neu  Wied  and  others,  this  species  occurs  on  the  Brazilian 
coast,  but  I  have  never  seen  it. 

The  number  of  sea-turtles  destroyed  every  year  on  the 
beaches  between  the  Doce  and  Sao  Matheos  is  very  large, 
and  the  destruction,  if  persisted  in,  must  ultimately  drive 
them  from  the  coast. 

Gerber's  map  of  that  part  of  Espirito  Santo  between  Santa 
Cruz  and  the  Sao  Matheos  is  very  inaccurate,  because  the  ma 
terials  from  which  his  map  was  compiled  are  inaccurate,  and 
little  trust  is  to  be  placed  in  the  position  assigned  to  the 
lakes  and  minor  streams.  For  this  region  the  chart  of 
Mouchez,  though  giving  in  considerable  detail  the  hydrog 
raphy  and  topography  of  the  coast  lands,  is  worse  than 
nothing,  for  he  seems  to  have  disregarded  all  the  previously 
published  maps  of  the  province. 

The  beach,  backed  by  a  high  ridge  of  sand,  runs  north 
ward,  for  perhaps  two  miles,  to  a  place  called  As  Pedras, 
where  the  same  calcareous  sandstone,  as  seen  at  Barra  Secca, 
occurs,  exposed  for  some  distance  along  the  beach  over  a 
considerable  area.  The  beds  dip  seaward,  and  appear  to 
be  very  thick  at  low-water  mark  ;  but  they  thin  out  before 
reaching  high-water  level.  The  arrangement  of  the  mate 
rials  in  this  sandstone  is  precisely  like  that  of  the  beach,  and 
this  formation  is  only  the  lower  part  of  a  beach  ridge  which 
has  been  cemented  by  the  lime  of  shells,  &c.,  and  then  laid 


114  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGKAPHY. 

bare.  The  sandstone  is  exceedingly  hard.  Two  sets  of 
joints  —  one  parallel  with  the  beach  line,  the  other  at  right 
angles  to  it — divide  it  into  great  blocks,  which,  in  those  spots 
where  they  have  been  undermined  by  the  surf,  lie  upset  and 
in  confusion  along  the  edge  of  the  reef.  Along  these  joints 
the  rock  is  often  harder  than  between  them,  so  that  when 
the  surface  of  a  block  is  exposed  to  the  action  of  the  sea,  the 
edges  wear  less  rapidly  than  the  middle,  and  the  cracks 
seen  on  a  worn  surface  are  oftentimes  bordered  by  nar 
row  ridges.  These  have  evidently  resulted  from  the  pene 
tration  into  the  mass  of  water  carrying  lime  in  solution, 
after  the  joints  had  been  formed,  and  the  farther  solidifi 
cation  of  the  rock  on  each  side  of  the  joint.  The  waves 
beat  terribly  against  this  reef,  and  it  is  badly  broken  up. 
Continuing  northward  along  the  reef,  which  sometimes 
forms  a  smooth  pavement  to  the  beach,  at  others  obstructs 
it  by  broken  masses  of  stone,  we  come  to  a  rocky  point 
where  the  shore  bends  in  abruptly,  and  makes  a  little  bay. 
The  beach  ridge  ends  as  abruptly,  and  the  shores  of  the 
cove  have  no  ridge,  but  the  reef  rock  continues  straight  on, 
and  forms  a  line  of  rock,  stretching  out  some  distance 
across  the  bay,  while  at  low  tide  one  may  see  that  the 
reef,  only  just  covered  by  water,  is  continued  across  the 
bay  to  a  point  where  the  beach,  furnished  with  a  sand- 
ridge,  follows  once  more  its  normal  northward  trend. 
This  locality  is  very  interesting,  because  it  shows  us 
that  the  sandstone  is  confined  to  the  beach,  and  that, 
when  the  beach  ridge  and  the  sands  behind  have  been 
swept  away,  by  a  storm  or  otherwise,  the  bared  reef  may 
stretch,  like  a  wall  or  breakwater,  across  the  coast  inden 
tation  thus  formed. 

Still  farther  northward  we  find  the  beach  bordered  by  a 


PROVINCE   OF   ESPIRITO   SANTO.  115 

fringing  reef  of  this  sort,  —  a  sort  of  irregular  flagging  to 
its  edge.  Riding  over  these  one  sees  the  ordinary  shells  of 
the  coast,  with  their  colors  still  fresh,  imbedded  in  the  rock. 
There  is  a  species  of  marine  worm  which  constructs  on  these 
rocks,  near  low  tide,  great,  rounded,  flattened  agglomera 
tions  of  sand-tubes,  which  are  sometimes  more  than  a  foot 
in  height,  and  resemble  immense  sponges.  The  sand  is 
very  compactly  cemented  together,  as  might  be  inferred  from 
their  withstanding  the  continuous  pounding  of  the  Atlantic 
surf.  Sometimes  these  masses  are  broken  across,  when 
they  appear  like  fragments  of  some  large  Astrsean.  At  one 
locality  on  the  shore,  opposite  these  rocks,  there  is  a  shallow 
lagoon  of  considerable  extent,  called  Mariricu,  which  lies 
just  behind  the  beach,  and  is  separated  from  the  sea  only 
by  the  beach  ridge,  which  latter  rises  to  a  height  of 
but  five  feet  above  high-water  mark.  I  found  the  surface 
of  this  lake  to  be,  on  the  18th  November,  1865,  about  five 
feet  and  a  half  above  the  level  of  the  sea  at  low  water.* 
Since  it  is  separated  from  the  sea  by  only  a  narrow  ridge 
of  sand,  there  is  a  constant  soaking  of  its  waters  through 
the  beach  at  low  tide.  It  has  seemed  to  me  probable  that 
the  waters  of  the  lagOa  percolating  through  the  beach  might 
have  something  to  do  with  the  solidification  of  the  sands. 
The  narrow  beach  which  separates  the  lake  from  the  sea 
is  the  only  dry  ground  between  the  swamps  and  the  ocean, 
and  it  is  the  road  taken  by  the  wild  animals  passing  north 
and  south  along  the  shore.  At  As  Azeites,  a  little  settle 
ment  near  the  shore,  and  about  three  leagues  south  of  Sao 
Matheos,  there  are  several  beach  ridges,  one  inside  of  the 
other.  Inside  of  these,  draining  the  lagoas  and  swamps  of 
the  south,  flows  a  little  black-water  stream  called  the  Rio 

*  The  tide  here  rises  about  six  feet  six  inches. 


116  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

Mariricu.*  At  As  Azeites  the  swampy  region  is  several  miles 
wide,  and  a  considerable  part  of  it  is  overflowed  ;  but  the 
lagoons  and  streams  are  so  masked  by  floating  masses  of 
water-plants  (balsas'),  and  a  dense  swamp  vegetation,  that 
the  country  is  impassable,  and  consequently  unknown  to  the 
inhabitants  of  the  district  itself.  At  Azeites  the  Mariricu 
is  only  a  narrow,  navigable  channel  leading  through  a 
wide,  overflowed  region,  and  bordered  by  balsas  of  grasses, 
arborescent  arums,  and  trees.  A  narrow  canal,  several 
hundred  feet  long,  is  here  cut  through  the  floating  vegeta 
tion  to  reach  terra  firma.  On  descending,  the  channel 
frequently  expands  into  broad  lagoons,  diversified  by  balsas, 
and  islands  with  clumps  of  trees,  but  the  channel  soon  con 
tracts,  though  the  growth  of  floating  grasses  f  on  each  side 
makes  it  appear  very  much  narrower  than  it  is  in  reality. 
In  some  places  it  is  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  wide  and  ten 
to  fifteen  feet  deep.  The  lands  bordering  it  are,  for  a  large 
part,  only  just  above  water,  and  are  heavily  wooded.  In  these 
forests  one  sees  the  Gamelleira  (Ficus*),  and  the  Tucum  palm 
(Astrocaryum  tucuma  Mart.),  furnishing  a  valuable  fibre,  and 
the  Inga,  while  on  the  open  grounds  flourishes  the  Cashew, 
or  Cajueira  (Anacardium  occidentalc) ,  some  immense  trees 
of  which  I  saw  growing  at  As  Azeites.  These  lands  are 
very  excellent  for  the  cultivation  of  rice.  There  are  some 
stretches  of  higher  sandy  grounds,  which,  though  not  fertile, 
are  more  or  less  cultivated,  producing  mandioca,  feijao,  cot 
ton,  rice,  and  corn.  The  Mariricu  empties  into  the  Sao  Ma- 
theos  a  few  miles  above  its  mouth.  The  tide,  which  goes 

*  In  all  probability  during  heavy  freshets  some  of  the  shore  lagoas  may 
make  outlets  for  themselves ;  but  the  only  barras  I  saw  between  the  Doce  and 
Sao  Matheos  were  those  of  Monserras  and  Secca. 

t  This  is  the  resort  of  great  numbers  of  alligators,  capabaras,  and  of  many  spe 
cies  of  water-birds,  —  ducks,  parras,  cranes,  &c.,  —  many  of  which  breed  there. 


PROVINCE   OF   ESPIRITO  SANTO.  117 

up  the  Sao  Matheos  some  thirty-five  miles,  makes'  its  influ 
ence  felt  up  the  Mariricu  for  some  distance.  Sometimes, 
during  drouths,  the  salt  water  flows  up  the  river  and  kills 
the  floating  grasses,  and  many  of  the  fresh-water  fish  die. 

The  Rio  Sao  Matheos  rises  in  the  province  of  Minas, 
in  the  forest,  south  of  the  Colonia  de  Urucu ;  but  I  have 
no  information  as  to  the  exact  point,  for  the  region  of 
its  head-waters  is  a  forest  inhabited  by  savages  and 
quite  unexplored.  In  a  manuscript  map  kindly  furnished 
me  by  my  friend,  Herr  Robert  Schlobach,  Imperial  engi 
neer  of  the  Mucury,  the  Rio  Sao  Matheos  is  represented  as 
taking  its  rise  a  few  miles  south  of  Philadelphia.  Its  an 
cient  name  was  Cricare',  or  Quiricare".  It  is  formed  by  the 
union,  at  a  distance  of  about  sixty  miles  above  its  mouth,  of 
two  branches  called,  respectively,  Bra90  do  Norte  and  Bra$o 
do  Sul.  I  made  a  horseback  journey  to  the  Fazenda  do  Capitao 
Grande,  distant  some  forty-five  miles  from  the  city  of  Sao 
Matheos,  and  situated  on  the  Brac,o  do  Norte,  a  few  miles 
above  its  junction  with  the  Brago  do  Sul,  and,  descend 
ing  to  the  sea,  mapped  the  river  as  far  as  Sao  Matheos, 
below  which  I  was  prevented  from  continuing  my  work. 
At  Capitao  Grande  the  river,  a  stream  some  one  hundred 
feet  wide,  shallow  and  swift,  flows  in  the  bottom  of  a 
valley,  cut  through  the  tertiary  formation,  which  here  has  a 
thickness,  above  river  level,  of  three  hundred  feet,  more  or 
less.  On  both  sides  of  the  valley  the  country  is  a  plain,  for 
the  most  part  heavily  timbered,  especially  on  the  slopes. 
At  the  fazenda,  the  soils  on  the  slopes  appear  to  be  drift,  and 
are  exceedingly  fertile.  The  coffee  on  the  slopes  was  vigor 
ous  and  healthy,  without  blight,  and  it  was  very  heavily 
fruited  with  a  berry  of  excellent  aroma.  I  do  not  remember 
having  seen  anywhere  better  coffee-trees  than  those  at  Capi- 


118  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

tao  Grande.  The  soil  yields  mandioca  and  the  other  products 
proper  to  the  climate  in  abundance.  In  the  narrow  valley 
the  climate  is  very  hot,  trying,  and  feverish,  but  the  clearing 
away  of  the  forests  will  change  its  character.  On  the  BraQO 
do  Norte  clays  are  occasionally  exposed  in  the  bluffs,  togeth 
er  with  a  kind  of  coarse  white  sandstone  such  as  would  re 
sult  from  the  hardening  of  the  sandy  clays  of  the  tertiary. 
There  are  but  few  inhabitants  on  this  branch  of  the  river. 
Of  the  Bra^o  do  Sul  I  know  nothing.  The  main  river  is  a 
respectable  little  stream,  one  hundred  and  fifty  to  two  hun 
dred  feet  in  width  above  Sao  Matheos,  and  bordered  by 
alluvial  lands,  which  lie  in  the  bottom  of  a  valley  cut 
through  the  tertiary  beds,  and  vary  much  in  width.  The 
valley  is  bordered  by  bluffs,  in  which  sandstones  and  clays 
of  ordinary  type  are  occasionally  seen.  The  tertiary  slopes 
are  very  fertile  and  largely  cultivated,  as  are,  to  a  consider 
able  extent,  the  lands  on  the  upper  plain,*  so  that  the 
country,  with  its  numerous  fazendas  and  cocoa-palm  trees, 
wears  a  very  pleasant  aspect. 

The  cocoa  palm  (Cocos  nucifera)  is,  according  to  Wal- 

*  The  soil  of  the  upper  plain,  when  uncleared,  usually  bears  a  heavy  forest 
growth.  It  is  more  or  less  sandy  and  clayey,  and  I  should  suppose  would  be 
difficult  to  work ;  but  I  am  told  that  such  is  not  the  case.  It  is  frequently 
covered  with  a  thin  layer  of  loose  sand  on  the  surface,  owing  to  the  washing 
away  of  the  clayey  portion  by  the  surface  water.  It  is  especially  fitted  for  the 
cultivation  of  mandioca,  which  flourishes  well  in  a  sandy  soil,  as  well  as  for 
cotton,  which  also  does  well  in  a  soil  of  that  kind.  Cane  is  planted  to  some 
extent.  When  cleared,  these  lands  make  excellent  grazing  grounds,  but  grass 
must  be  planted.  On  the  Sertao  flourish  the  Nmjd,  Timbitrg,  and  Muri  palms. 
Northwest  of  Sao  Matheos,  on  the  north  side  of  the  river,  are  some  extensive 
barren  and  swampy  plains  covered  by  a  vegetation  composed  of  shrubs, 
among  which  I  observed  a  species  of  Vaccinium  in  fruit.  The  soil  of  the  river- 
borders  is  Massape,  and  very  fertile ;  but  these  are  generally  very  low  and  liable 
to  be  flooded.  Near  Sao  Matheos  are  extensive  swamps,  which  sometimes  breed 
very  malignant  fevers. 


PKOVINCE   OF  ESPIRITO  SANTO.  119 

lace  and  other  good  authorities,  not  a  native  of  America,  and 
the  early  explorers  of  Brazil  do  not  speak  of  it.  Its  home 
appears  to  have  been  in  the  East  Indies,  but  it  has  been  in 
troduced  into  America,  probably  by  natural  means,  the  im 
pervious  shell  and  thick  husk  fitting  the  fruit  to  bear  long 
transportation  by  ocean  currents.  It  is  now  found  every 
where  on  tropical  coasts,  but  in  the  East  Indies  it  is  more 
largely  cultivated  than  elsewhere,  sometimes  even  forming 
forests.  It  is  a  very  valuable  tree,  furnishing  food,  oil,  fibre 
for  cordage,  arrack,  <fec.,  &c.* 

Yon  Tschudi  says  that  Villa  Vi9osa  is  the  southern  limit 
of  this  palm  in  Brazil.  This  is  not  quite  correct.  South  of 
Sao  Matheos  these  trees  are  but  rarely  seen,  but  they,  how 
ever,  grow  at  Rio  de  Janeiro,  and  great  numbers  may  be 
seen  on  the  shores  of  Paqueta,  while  there  are  a  few  speci 
mens  on  the  islands  of  Cobras  and  Villeganhao.  At  the 
Barra  do  Sao  Matheos  they  grow  very  well,  and  at  the 
Fazenda  do  Campo  Redondo,  at  a  distance  of  several  miles 
from  the  sea,  there  is  a  fine  grove  on  the  edge  of  a  bluff. 
This  palm,  as  has  been  frequently  remarked,  appears  to 
flourish  best  on  the  sands  of  the  sea-shore,  and  it  is  very 
rarely  seen  at  any  great  distance  inland. 

A  specimen  was  seen  by  Burton  on  the  Sao  Francisco  at 
Brejo  do  Salgado,  three  hundred  and  fifty  miles  from  the 
sea  ;  and,  according  to  the  same  observer,  the  cocoa  palm 
occurs  in  occasional  patches  thence  down  the  river.  Burton 
speaks  of  a  large  grove  twenty-eight  miles  to  the  southwest 
of  Joazeiro,  and  he  suggests  that  the  saline  character  of  the 
soil  may  make  up  for  the  want  of  sea  air. 

*  See  Hamilton,  Description  of  Hindostan,  Vol.  II.  p.  210.  Meyen,  Botan 
ical  Geography,  p.  331.  Transactions  of  Royal  Asiatic  Society  of  Great  Britain, 
Vol.  I.  p.  546.  Bennett's  Travels  in  New  South  Wales,  &c.,  Vol.  II,  Appen 
dix,  p.  295. 


120 


GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 


FAZEXDA   OF    CAMPO    REDOXDO,    SAO   MATHEOS. 

Humboldt  found  this  palm  growing  in  the  interior  of 
Venezuela,  and  the  Duke  Paul  von  Wiirtemburg  reports  it 
as  flourishing,  at  a  distance  from  the  sea,  in  the  island 
of  Cuba.  It  occurs,  also,  sometimes  in  the  interior  of 
India. 

In  Brazil  I  have  seen  the  cocoa  palm  as  far  south  as  lati 
tude  23°  at  Rio.  It  is  grown  abundantly  in  the  provinces  of 
Bahia,  Sergipe,  Alagoas,  Pernambuco,  and  along  the  coast 
northward,  but  near  the  equator  it  is  rarely  seen.  The 
northern  limit  appears  to  lie  within  latitude  28°  north  of  the 
equator.  May. en  says,  on  the  authority  of  Humboldt,  that 
in  Venezuela  it  ascends  to  the  height  of  700  toises  above 
the  plain,  or  in  the  vicinity  of  4,500  feet  above  the  sea. 

The  products  of  the  Sao  Matheos  region  are  principally 
mandioca  meal  (/arw/ia),  together  with  some  sugar,  cacao, 
beans,  &c.,  <fec.  The  cacao  is  principally  planted  on  the  lower 
grounds,  where  it  yields  well.  The  influence  of  the  tide  is  felt 
at  a  distance  of  some  twenty-five  miles,  or  more,  above  the 
mouth  of  the  river,  and  navigation  for  small  vessels  ends  a  few 


PROVINCE   OF   ESPIRITO   SANTO.  121 

miles  above  the  town.  The  height  of  the  bluffs  decreases  on 
nearing  the  coast,  and,  at  the  city,  they  are  not  more  than 
eighty  to  one  hundred  feet.  Sao  Matheos,  like  Nova  Almeida 
and  other  Brazilian  towns,  is  built  partly  on  the  edge  of  the 
bluff,  partly  at  its  foot,  by  the  river-side,  at  the  point  where 
the  bluffs  leave  the  river  and  run  southward  to  the  Doce. 
It  has  about  two  thousand  inhabitants,  and  is  a  place  of 
some  considerable  importance,  being  reached  by  the  coast 
ing  steamers  and  little  schooners.  The  trade  is  princi 
pally  in  farinha,  feijao,  &c.  On  the  opposite  side  of  the 
river  the  bluffs  run  eastward  for  a  few  miles,  and  then 
trend  off  northward  to  Itahunas,  decreasing  in  height  as 
they  near  the  sea.  This  decrease  in  height,  I  am  inclined 
to  ascribe,  in  part,  to  the  slope  of  the  old  sea-bottom,  on 
which  the  tertiary  beds  were  deposited. 

Below  the  town  the  river  grows  wider,  shallower,  and  is 
obstructed  by  sand-banks.  The  banks  are  low,  with  only 
occasional  plantations,  and  are,  for  the  most  part,  covered 
by  a  dense  forest ;  but,  lying  between  the  tertiary  lands  and 
the  sea  on  the  northern  side,  at  least,  are  quite  extensive 
sandy  plains  with  their  accompanying  sparse  vegetation. 
The  river-banks  are  generally  muddy,  and  the  aninga  and 
other  brackish-water  swamp  plants  grow  abundantly  on 
them.  Salt-water  crabs  and  fish  ascend  to  the  town.  The 
city  of  Sao  Matheos  cannot  be  more  than  seven  or  eight 
miles  in  a  direct  line  from  the  sea,  and  is  very  incorrectly 
located  on  the  maps.  According  to  my  observation,  it  lies 
about  west-southwest  of  the  barra.  The  river,  descending 
from  the  city,  makes  a  large  bend  southward,  receiving  the 
Mariricu  ;  it  then  runs  north  a  few  degrees  east,  and,  just 
above  the  barra  bends  round  and  enters  the  sea  from  the 
northwest.  The  maps  show  a  Rio  Sao  Domingos  entering 


122  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

the  Sao  Matheos,  just  above  the  villa,  but  I  find  no  note  of 
it  in  my  journal.  The  Villa  da  Barra  do  Sao  Matheos  is 
situated  on  a  ridge  of  sand,  only  a  stone's  throw  from  the 
sea,  but  it  is  nearly  two  miles  from  the  mouth,  because  the 
river  flows  southward,  behind  the  beach  ridge  for  that  dis 
tance,  before  escaping  into  the  sea.  On  both  sides  of  the 
river,  but  particularly  on  the  southern  side,  there  are  exten 
sive  mangrove  swamps,  which  furnish  very  interesting  col 
lecting  grounds  for  the  naturalist,  for  they  are  especially 
rich  in  crustaceans.  Among  the  mangroves  two  genera  are 
represented, —  Laguncularia  and  Avicennia.  The  common 
red  mangrove  of  the  Brazilians  is  the  Lag-uncularia  racemosa 
Gaert.,  of  which  the  wood  is  used  for  burning,  and  the  leaf 
and  bark  for  tanning.  The  second  species  is  the  Avicennia 
tomentosa  Linne",  used  for  the  same  purposes. 

One  league,  or  thereabouts,  north  of  the  Barra  do  Sao 
Matheos,  is  the  mouth  of  the  Rio  Itahunas,  or  Guaxindiba. 
This  little  stream,  a  black-water  river,  as  has  already  been 
noted  by  Max.  zu  Neu-Wied,*  rises  in  the  Sertao,  and  reaches 
the  coast  at  a  point  some  three  leagues  north  of  the  mouth  ; 
but  a  beach  ridge,  only  a  few  hundred  feet  in  width,  prevents 
its  reaching  the  sea,  and  causes  it  to  bend  abruptly  to  the 
southward,  so  that  it  flows  along,  through  the  low  grounds, 

*  Prinz  Max.  zu  Neu  Wied,  Reise  nach  Brasilien,  Vol.  I.  p.  226,  says  that  the 
Peixeboi,  or  manati,  Manatus  americanus,  occurs  in  a  lai-ge  grass-grown  lake 
south  of  the  Sao  Matheos  and  communicating  with  that  river,  and  that  it  used 
to  be  captured  by  the  inhabitants  for  the  sake  of  its  blubber,  flesh,  and  ear-bones ; 
and  in  the  second  volume  of  his  Beitrage  aur  Naturgeschichte  von  Brasilien,  page 
602,  he  states  that  it  occurred  plentifully  in  the  river  and  lake  aforesaid,  or  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  Quartel  Juparanaa,  and  was  formerly  frequently  taken  by 
the  inhabitants.  He  adds,  however,  that  he  had  never  seen  a  specimen. 
While  at  Sao  Matheos,  and  during  a  stay  of  three  months  in  that  part  of 
the  coast,  I  never  heard  the  animal  spoken  of,  and  I  do  not  believe  that  it  is 
now  to  be  found  there.  (See  note  on  page  75.) 


PROVINCE   OF  ESPIRITO   SANTO.  123 

just  behind  the  beach  ridge,  for  two  or  three  leagues.  It 
is  rather  narrow,  but  very  deep,  and  vessels  of  consider 
able  size  enter  it.  It  is  navigable  for  some  distance  into 
the  interior,  and  furnishes  an  excellent  water  highway. 
Near  its  mouth  a  riacho  *  enters  it  from  the  southward, 
and  this  affords  navigation  nearly  to  the  Barra  do  Sao  Ma- 
theos.  A  canal  is  being  opened  to  join  this  riacho  with  the 
Sao  Matheos.  The  low  lands  between  the  bluffs  and  the 
coast  are  for  the  most  part  timbered  ;  but  they  furnish  some 
excellent  pasturage.  On  the  Itahunas,  a  strip  of  sand  mar 
gins  the  bluffs  and  appears  to  be  the  continuation  of  the  sand 
plain  on  the  Sao  Matheos.  The  bluffs  bordering  the  plain 
are  only  thirty  or  forty  feet  in  height,  but  they  grow  higher 
as  we  go  westward,  and,  at  a  distance  of  two  leagues  from 
Itahunas,  they  are  at  least  one  hundred  feet  high.  They 
have,  as  elsewhere,  steep  slopes,  and,  in  part  at  least,  are 
covered  by  a  very  fertile  soil.  On  the  Fazenda  of  Senhor 
Olindo  Gomes  dos  Santos  I  saw  most  excellent  crops,  espe 
cially  of  mandioca  and  coffee,  which  were  almost,  if  not 
quite,  equal  to  anything  on  the  Sao  Matheos. 

Off  the  shore,  in  front  of  the  town  of  Itahunas,  are  some 
ledges  of  rock  washed  by  the  waves.  I  could  not  examine 
them,  but  I  thought  them  to  be  sandstones.  The  bluffs 
sweep  round  to  the  shore,  just  to  the  north  of  a  little  riacho, 
called  Doce,  if  I  mistake  not,  and  a  short  distance  to  the 
south  of  the  first  point  north  of  Itahunas  ;  they  form  along 
the  shore,  for  a  distance  of  several  miles,  a  line  of  low 
cliffs,  which,  from  their  whiteness,  have  received  the  name 
of  Os  LeiiQoes.  These  cliffs  are  nowhere  more  than  thirty 
to  forty  feet  in  height,  this  being  the  thickness  of  the  forma 
tion  exposed  above  the  sea.  The  most  prominent  feature 

*  This  term  is  applied  to  small  estuaries.    It  means  literally  a  small  river. 


124  GEOLOGY   AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

in  this  line  of  cliffs,  is  a  hard  gray  grit  with  an  argillaceous 
cement,  and  in  some  places  twenty  feet  in  thickness.  This 
rock  is  composed  of  materials  precisely  like  those  of  the 
sandy  clays  of  Lagcta  Juparanaa,  and  elsewhere  ;  but  the 
rock  is  so  compact  and  hard  as  to  be  used  as  a  building- 
stone  at  Itahunas,  although  I  believe  that  the  stone  actually 
used  is  derived  from  quarries  near  the  village.  Associated 
with  this  rock  are  white  and  red  clays,  and  beds  of  the 
common,  coarse,  red,  lava-like  sandstone.*  The  cliffs  end 
at,  or  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of,  the  Riacho  das  Ostras, 
a  little,  black-water  stream,  of  whose  course  I  know  nothing, 
but  the  bluffs  continue  along  the  shore  much  further.  Riacho 
Novo  is  another  black-water  stream,  which,  before  emptying 
into  the  sea,  runs  for  several  miles  in  a  deep  channel  just  be 
hind  the  beach  ridge.  The  tide  enters  this  channel,  and  it  is 
navigable  for  canoes  for  a  considerable  distance.  The  whole 
country  between  Itahunas  and  the  Mucury  is  wooded,  the 
lower  and  wet  grounds  very  luxuriantly,  the  higher  and  drier 
less  so,  the  latter  often  supporting  only  a  thick  growth  of 
small  trees  and  bushes.  Dunes  of  sand  occur  on  the  shore 
near  the  Mucury,  and  in  one  locality  there  are  exposed  on 
the  sand-beach  the  stumps  of  trees,  rooted  in  their  soil  and 
upright,  something  which  points  to  an  encroachment  on  the 
shore  by  the  sea.  I  have  observed  dead  trees,  apparently 
mangroves,  standing  in  the  water  off  the  shore  below  Cara- 
vellas.  Has  there  been  a  recent  depression  of  this  part  of 
the  coast  ? 

*  I  was  delayed  one  morning  at  a  little  settlement  just  south  of  the  Riacho  das 
Ostras,  and  I  undertook  a  careful  examination  of  the  beds  for  fossils,  but  I  saw 
not  the  slightest  trace  of  organic  remains  in  them.  I  am  sorry  that  I  was  un 
able  to  make  notes  on  the  arrangement  of  the  materials  in  the  cliff;  but  the 
place  was  like  a  furnace,  and  I  was  driven  away  by  the  sun,  blinded  and  ex 
hausted. 


PROVINCE   OF   MINAS   GEBAES.  125 


CHAPTER    III. 

PROVINCE    OF    MINAS    GERAES.  —  THE    MUCURY    AND    JEQUI- 
T1NHONHA    BASINS. 

The  Basin  of  the  Mucury.  —  Porto  Alcgre.  —  Description  of  the  River  below 
Santa  Clara.  —  Luxuriance  of  Forest  Vegetation.  —  Santa  Clara.  —  Minas 
Geraes  a  Land-locked  Province.  —  Want  of  Roads.  —  The  Philadelphia  Road 
and  the  Mucury  Colonies.  — Difference  in  Topography  and  Soils  between  the 
Tertiary  and  Gneiss  Lands  west  of  Santa  Clara.  —  Urucu,  its  Dutch  Colony, 
Soils,  Climate,  &c.  —  Philadelphia  and  its  German  Colonies.  —  Great  Fer 
tility  of  the  Mucury  Basin.  —  Character  of  Country  between  Philadelphia 
and  the  Head -waters  of  the  Mucury. — The  Basin  of  the  Jequitinhonha. — 
The  Rio  Pardo.  —  General  Geological  Structure  of  the  Jequitinhonha-Pardo 
Basin.  —  The  Head-waters  of  the  Setubal,  their  Geological  Features  and  Ca- 
tinga  Forests.  —  Geological  Excursion  from  the  Fazenda  de  Santa  Barbara  to 
Alto  dos  Bois.  —  Difficulty  of  geologizing  in  Brazil.  —  The  Brazilian  Cam 
pos.  —  The  Chapadas  between  Itinga  and  Calhao.  —  The  great  Calhao- 
Arassuahy  Valley.  —  Magnificent  View  over  the  Valley  from  the  Chapada  at 
Agua  da  Nova.  —  Calhao  and  the  Geology  of  its  Vicinity.  —  Description  of 
the  Country  between  Calhao  and  Sucuriu.  —  The  Chapadas.  —  Minas  Novas, 
its  Geology,  Gold-Mines,  &c.  —  Occurrence  of  Gold  in  Drift.  —  Gold-Mines 
of  the  Arraial  da  Chapada  ;  their  former  Richness  ;  not  yet  worked  out.  — 
Decomposition  of  Clay  Slates  in  the  Minas  Novas  Region.  — The  Rio  Aras- 
suahy.  —  The  Rio  Jequitinhonha  from  its  Confluence  with  the  Arassuahy  to 
the  Sea  described  ;  its  Geology,  Vegetation,  Commerce.  —  The  Salto  Grande. 

THE  Rio  Mucuiy  takes  its  rise  in  the  province  of  Minas, 
about  150  miles  west  of  Yilla  YiQOsa,  among  the  high  lands 
which  form  the  water-shed  bounding  the  basin  of  the  Jequi 
tinhonha  on  the  east.  Its  course  for  the  first  seventy-five 
miles,  curves  excepted,  is  approximately  east-northeast,  when 
it  meets  the  Rio  Preto,  a  stream  rising  in  the  same  water-shed 


126  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

some  forty  miles  to  the  north-northeast.  This  last  river 
flows  with  a  course  almost  parallel  to  the  Mucuiy  up  to 
about  the  same  meridian,  when  it  receives  the  little  Rio  das 
Americanas  coming  from  the  north.  It  then  bends  abruptly 
to  the  south,  to  join  the  Mucury,  the  combined  waters  of  the 
two  streams  flowing  still  southward  until  they  reach  the  Rio 
Todos  os  Santos,  a  stream  rising  at  a  point  south  of  the 
Mucury,  and  forty  miles  south  of  the  source  of  the  Rio  Pre- 
to,  and  flowing  also  parallel  with  the  Mucury.  The  Mucury 
soon  bends  gradually  round  to  the  east,  and,  making  sev 
eral  broad  curves,  runs  with  a  general  southeast  direction 
to  Santa  Clara,  on  the  boundary  between  the  provinces  of 
Minas,  Bahia,  and  Espirito  Santo,  a  distance  of  thirty  miles, 
in  a  straight  line,  but  much  more,  following  the  course  of 
the  river.  The  Rio  Urucu  is  another  river  flowing  in  a  val 
ley  parallel  with  the  Todos  os  Santos  and  Upper  Mucury,  but 
emptying  into  the  Mucury  proper  on  the  right  bank,  some 
fifteen  miles  in  a  straight  line  below  the  mouth  of  the 
Todos  os  Santos.  On  the  opposite  or  northern  side  the 
Mucury  receives,  about  eight  or  ten  miles  farther  down,  the 
Rio  Pampao,  which  comes  from  the  north,  and  has  appar 
ently  a  course  of  about  sixty  miles ;  but  its  upper  waters 
have  never  been  explored.*  Above  Santa  Clara  the  Mucury 
and  its  tributaries  are  swift  and  obstructed  by  rapids,  but 
from  Santa  Clara  the  main  river  runs  with  a  very  tortuous 
course,  as  a  rio  dCareia,  to  the  sea,  into  which  it  empties  in 
latitude  18°  6'  S.,  and  ten  and  a  half  miles  south  of  the  par 
allel  of  Santa  Clara.  Its  waters  come  principally  from  the 
province  of  Minas,  where  it  drains  an  irregular  triangular 

*  Some  of  the  lands  of  the  Mucury  company  were  situated  on  the  Pamp3o. 
The  only  one  who  has  visited  them  is  my  friend  Mr.  George  Schieber,  one  of 
the  surveying  corps  of  the  Mucury. 


PROVINCE   OF   MINAS   GERAES.  127 

area,  bounded  as  follows  :  by  a  line  running  due  north  along 
the  Serra  dos  Aymore's,  eighty  miles,  another  line,  135  miles 
long,  running  a  little  east  of  northeast,  and  another  on  the 
south  about  110  miles  long,  and  running  east-west  along  the 
water-shed  dividing  the  basin  of  the  Mucury  from  those  of 
the  Doce  and  Sao  Matheos.  This  triangle  is  a  right-angled 
one.  From  its  southeast  angle  the  area  drained  forms  an 
irregular  strip  some  six  or  more  miles  wide,  along  the  mid 
dle  of  which  flows  the  river.  In  the  study  of  this  river  sys 
tem,  several  points  strike  one  as  interesting.  The  parallel 
ism  of  the  Rios  Preto,  Mucury,  Todos  os  Santos,  and  Urucu 
shows  that  they  flow  in  parallel  valleys,  which  are  evidently 
determined  by  the  trend  of  the  foldings  into  which  the  gneiss 
is  thrown.  The  coincidence  in  direction  between  the  courses 
of  the  Rio  das  Americanas  and  that  of  the  Rio  Preto  above 
the  Mucury,  and  the  latter  to  its  confluence  with  the  Todos  os 
Santos,  points  to  a  valley  running  north-south,  into  which 
the  rivers  Preto,  Todos  os  Santos,  and  Mucury  empty  as  side 
tributaries.  The  Pampao  flows  in  a  similar  valley.  It  is 
interesting  to  compare  the  basin  of  the  Mucury  with  that  of 
the  Doce.  In  each,  the  greater  part  of  the  region  drained 
lies  west  of  the  coast  cordilheira,  while  east  of  the  cordilheira 
the  area  dwindles  down  to  a  narrow  strip  bordering  the 
river  on  each  side.  Between  these  two  rivers  are  intercal 
ated  the  Sao  Matheos,  Itahunas,  &c. 

With  these  introductory  remarks  on  the  hydrography  of 
the  Mucury  basin  I  propose  to  give  a  somewhat  detailed 
description  of  the  river  basin  in  ascending  the  river  to  Santa 
Clara,  and  then  traversing  the  basin  thence  westward  to  the 
head  of  the  Mucury  Pequeno,  along  the  line  of  the  Santa 
Clara,  Philadelphia,  and  Minas  road.  The  Rio  Mucury,  con 
trary  to  the  general  rule,  enters  the  sea  obliquely  from  the 


128  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

south.  Its  mouth  is  narrow  and  difficult  to  enter,  being 
much  less  practicable  than  the  Sao  Matheos.  On  the  left 
bank  at  the  mouth,  built  on  a  sand-bank,  and  surrounded 
by  mangrove  swamps,  is  the  miserable  little  village  to  which 
the  ridiculous  misnomer  of  Porto  Alegre  has  been  applied. 
The  place  is  of  importance  only  as  the  port  of  the  Mucury 
district,  which  exports  coffee,  cotton,  rosewood,  &c.  From 
Porto  Alegre  large  quantities  of  salt  are  sent  into  the  inte 
rior,  where  it  finds  its  way  into  the  very  heart  of  the  prov 
ince  of  Min as  Geraes.  Dry  goods  are  also  imported  through 
the  same  channel.  The  town  is  one  of  the  most  wretched  I 
saw  in  Brazil.  Its  inhabitants  are  principally  of  Tupi  origin. 
From  Porto  Alegre  to  Santa  Clara,  a  distance  of  forty-five 
miles  in  a  straight  line,  but  at  least  fifty-five  by  the  river, 
the  stream  is  rather  shallow,  very  tortuous,  narrow,  and 
affording  navigation  for  pranchas,  canoes,  and  a  very  small 
steamer ;  but  the  water  is,  for  a  considerable  part  of  the 
year,  so  shallow,  and  the  river  is  so  obstructed  by  sand 
banks,  that  it  is  navigable  constantly  only  for  canoes.*  Just 
above  Porto  Alegre  the  tertiary  bluffs  appear,  and  sand 
stones  and  clays  are  exposed  in  them.  At  first  these  bluffs 
are  not  very  high,  in  some  places  measuring  only  from 
eighty  to  one  hundred  feet ;  but,  ascending  the  river,  their 
elevation  increases,  and  at  Santa  Claraf  they  are  some  330 
feet  above  sea  level.  At  Santa  Clara  the  whole  thickness  of 
the  formation  is  not  displayed  in  these  bluffs  ;  for,  back  from 
them  the  tertiary  lands  reach,  in  some  places,  an  altitude  of 

*  In  the  latter  part  of  January,  1866,  Mr.  Copeland  and  I  ascended  the 
river  in  the  little  steamer.  The  water  was  so  shallow  that  we  were  constantly 
running  aground.  A  few  leagues  below  Santa  Clara  we  stuck  fast,  and  the 
rest  of  the  distance  we  had  to  make  in  the  prancha  we  had  been  towing. 

t  Santa  Clara  itself  is  327  palmos  above  sea  level,  which  would  make  the 
level  of  the  river  below  the  rapids  only  a  few  palmos  lower. 


PROVINCE   OF  MINAS   GERAES.  129 

360  feet  above  sea  level,  according  to  actual  measurement. 
The  river  valley  is  very  narrow,  and  the  sides  have  a  steep 
slope.  The  alluvial  lands  are  small  in  extent.  Both  they 
and  the  tertiary  lands  are  covered  by  a  very  heavy  and  lux 
uriant  forest,  and  the  scenery  on  the  river  is  of  surpassing 
beauty ;  for  here,  as  on  the  Doce,  the  trees  crowd  down  to 
the  water's  edge,  forming  a  dense  wall  of  verdure.  A  host 
of  species  of  beautiful-leaved  and  bright-flowing  climbing 
plants  hang  a  dense  curtain  from  tree  to  tree,  and  sometimes 
depend  in  folds  from  the  outstretched  branches,  like  the  dra 
pery  from  the  arm  of  an  antique.  The  gneiss  first  makes 
its  appearance  below  the  tertiary  rocks  at  a  place  called 
Dous  Irmaos,  some  eight  leagues,  more  or  less,  below  Santa 
Clara.  It  has  a  northward  dip.  At  Santa  Clara  navigation 
is  made  impossible  by  a  series  of  rapids,  and  thence  into 
the  province  of  Minas  the  Mucury  is  rapid,  and  has  many 
falls.  At  Santa  Clara,  which  is  only  a  collection  of  a  few 
dwellings  and  warehouses,  built  on  narrow  alluvial  flats 
on  the  right  bank  of  the  river,  the  valley  is  very  narrow, 
and  has  steep  banks.  The  rocks  in  the  river  are  gneiss,* 
which  is  much  veined  with  granite.  This  locality  is  very 
unhealthy,  owing  to  the  narrowness  of  the  valley,  and  the 
great  heat  of  the  day, — which  often  gives  way  to  damp 
fogs  by  night,  —  to  the  bad  character  of  the  river  water,  and 
to  swamps  in  the  vicinity  on  the  top  of  the  chapada.f 

*  The  Diccimario  Geografico  says  that  iron  ore  exists  within  the  district  of 
Porto  Alegre,  but  does  not  indicate  the  locality.  Von  Tschudi,  Reisen  durch 
Sud-Amer.,  Vol.  II.  p.  338,  says  that  he  has  found  chrysolites  in  the  river-sand 
at  the  Barra. 

t  I  was  attacked  by  fever  here,  and  only  escaped  by  removing  to  the  high 
grounds  of  Minas.  I  owe  a  deep  debt  of  gratitude  to  Signora  Gazzinelli,  who 
took  a  mother's  care  of  me,  and  also  to  my  faithful  and  generous  companion. 
Mr.  Schieber,  whose  kindness  I  never  can  forget. 

6*  I 


130  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

Any  one  glancing  at  a  map  of  Brazil  will  see  that  the  rich 
and  populous  province  of  Minas  Geraes  is  land-locked,  and 
separated  from  the  sea  by  serras  and  forests.  The  Serra  da 
Mantiqueira  and  the  Serra  do  Mar  skirt  it  on  the  south,  and 
on  the  east  the  coast  mountains,  collectively  known  under  the 
name  of  the  Serra  dos  Aymords,  clothed  with  forest,  form 
its  eastern  boundary  line.  None  of  its  rivers  are  navigable 
to  the  sea,  though  some  of  them  are,  for  scores  of  miles, 
navigable  in  their  upper  courses  ;  but  all  of  them  are  ob 
structed  by  heavy  falls  or  rapids  in  their  descent  from  the 
plateau  to  the  coast  plains.  Many  of  them,  as  is  the  case 
with  the  Doce,  Mucury,  Jequitinhonha,  and  Sao  Francisco, 
are  navigable  in  their  lower  courses,  in  some  cases,  even  up 
to  the  confines  of  the  province.  From  Rio  a  railroad  to  the 
foot  of  the  Serra  da  Estrella,  with  a  magnificent  wagon-road, 
which,  crossing  this  Serra  and  the  Serra  da  Mantiqueira,  con 
nects  with  the  Barbacena  district,  about  152  miles  in  a  direct 
line  from  Rio.  An  excellent  railroad  crosses  the  Serra  do 
Mar  to  the  northwest  of  Rio,  and  enters  the  valley  of  the 
Parahyba,  down  which  it  extends  many  miles.  It  is  to  be 
extended  northward  into  the  province  of  Minas.  But  the 
greater  part  of  Minas  is  destitute  of  wagon-roads,  and  the 
traffic  is  almost  wholly  carried  on  on  the  backs  of  mules.  The 
coast  forest-  and  mountain-belt  bounding  the  province  is  al 
most  entirely  uninhabited  and  impassable.  A  very  small 
quantity  of  salt  and  other  articles  of  commerce  finds  its  way 
in  canoes  up  the  river  Doce,  as  already  stated,  and  a  larger 
quantity  by  the  same  means  enters  the  province  by  the  Je 
quitinhonha  ;  but  commerce  with  the  sea-coast  is  carried  on 
with  great  difficulty  and  at  much  expense.  Thus,  a  bag  of 
salt  that  costs  two  milreis  at  the  sea-coast  is  worth  eight  or 
even  eleven  milreis  by  the  time  it  has  reached  the  interior 


PROVINCE   OF  MINAS   GERAES.  131 

of  Minas.  The  Senator  Theophilo  Benedicto  Ottoni,*  some 
twenty-five  years  ago,  conceived  the  project  of  opening  a 
good  wagon-road  from  Santa  Clara  to  Minas  Novas,  through 
the  broad  forest  region  of  the  Mucury,  and  of  colonizing  that 
region.  A  company  was  organized  for  the  purpose  of  accom 
plishing  this  object.  Through  agents  in  Europe,  a  consider 
able  number  of  German,  French,  and  Swiss  colonists  were 
secured,  and  two  colonies  were  founded,  one  on  the  Rio  Uru- 
cu,  the  other  at  Philadelphia,  on  the  Todos  os  Santos,  the 
Mucury  colonies  being  founded  in  the  year  1858.  An  ex 
cellent  wagon-road,  now  out  of  repair,  was  constructed  from 
Santa  Clara  to  Philadelphia,  and  a  mule-path  was  laid  out  to 
Minas  Novas ;  but  the  colonists  appear  to  have  been,  to  a 
very  large  extent,  of  very  poor  quality.  Through  the  mis 
representation  of  the  agents  of  the  company  in  Europe,  the 
colonists  were  led  to  expect  to  find  themselves,  on  their  ar 
rival,  put  into  the  possession  of  a  house  and  cultivated  farm. 
It  was  a  bitter  disappointment  to  them  to  be  sent  into  the 
virgin  forest.  Nevertheless,  extensive  clearings  were  made, 
and  the  villages  of  Urucu  and  Philadelphia  were  built ;  but 
political  opposition  from  the  enemies  of  Ottoni  was  added  to 
the  difficulties  the  colonists  had  to  contend  with.  The  com 
pany  failed  ;  the  colonists,  disappointed  in  their  hopes,  de 
serted  by  wholesale,!  and  to-day  the  Mucury  is  dragging  out 
a  miserable  existence,  Philadelphia  is  in  decay,  and  the  road 
is  out  of  repair.  It  was  not  because  the  lands  of  the  Mucury 

*  To  the  Senator  my  companion  and  I  are  indebted  for  letters  of  introduc 
tion,  which  secured  for  us  friends  and  assistance  everywhere  along  our  whole 
journey. 

t  I  should  state  here  that  the  worthless  colonists  were  the  first  to  leave. 
Those  that  I  had  the  opportunity  of  meeting  in  the  Mucury  seemed  to  me  to 
be  of  a  good,  industrious  class,  but  they  were  crippled  by  the  failure  of  the 
company. 


132  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

were  not  fertile.  They  are  exceedingly  rich,  while  the  cli 
mate  is  healthy  and  agreeable.  It  is  not  that  the  project  of 
opening  a  road  through  the  Mucury  to  Minas  was  unwisely 
planned,  but  it  is  owing  to  bad  management  on  the  part  of 
the  company,  to  the  slanders  of  enemies,  and  to  the  bad 
character  of  a  large  part  of  the  colonists  themselves,  that  the 
enterprise  has  proved  a  failure.* 

The  Minas  road,  on  leaving  Santa  Clara,  runs  for  a  few 
miles  through  a  hilly  region  bordering  the  Mucury.  This 
region  is  covered  by  the  ordinary  red  drift  soil,  and  is  very 
fertile.  Quite  a  number  of  German  families  still  remain 
here.  Beyond  Barriado,  where  are  a  few  settlers,  one  soon 
leaves  the  river  valley  and  rises  to  the  top  of  the  tertiary 
chapada,!  which,  at  a  distance  of  eleven  and  three  quarter 
leagues  from  Santa  Clara,  and  near  the  Riacho  das  Pedras, 
is  1,226  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  It  forms  a  plain 
like  that  of  the  Sertao  J  below  Santa  Clara,  and  is  well 
but  not  densely  wooded.  The  chapada  is  covered  by  a 
layer  of  drift  of  a  yellowish  color,  in  which  I  saw,  indis 
criminately  mingled  with  the  clayey  sand  of  which  it  is 
composed,  rounded  and  angular  fragments  of  quartz,  sand- 

*  The  story  of  the  Mucury  is  a  long  and  sad  one,  and  I  do  not  wish  to  enter 
into  it  here.  Those  who  desire  to  read  the  history  of  the  colony  will  find  a 
very  fair  statement  of  the  facts  in  Von  Tschudi's  Reisen  durch  Siid-Amerika, 
Vol.  II.  That  of  Dr.  Ave  Lallemant  is  prejudiced,  unfair,  and  unreliable. 

t  Chapada  means  primarily  a  plain,  but  in  Brazil  the  term  is  applied  to  ele 
vated  plains  or  small  plateaus,  usually  consisting  of  horizontal  deposits,  and 
separated  by  deep  valleys  of  erosion.  The  term  chapadao  is  applied  to  chapa- 
das  of  great  extent,  as  the  chapadao  de  Santa  Maria  in  Minas. 

\  The  term  Sertao,  plural  Sertoes,  so  often  used  in  works  on  Brazil,  simply 
means  the  interior  of  a  country  as  opposed  to  the  coast.  It  is  applied,  for 
instance,  to  the  lands  in  the  vicinity  of  the  city  of  Sao  Matheos.  The  word 
appears  to  have  a  somewhat  indefinite  signification  in  Brazil.  The  inhabi 
tants  of  the  Sertao  are  called  Sertanejos. 


PROVINCE   OF  MINAS   GERAES.  133 

stone,  and  gneiss.  This  soil,  like  that  of  the  plains  below 
Santa  Clara,  is  weak,  and  much  inferior  to  the  gneiss  soils. 
At  Riacho  das  Pedras,  a  little  stream  flowing  into  the  Mu- 
cury,  the  tertiary  lands  are  left,  and  the  road  reaches  a 
rolling  gneiss  country.  The  rock,  wherever  I  saw  it,  was 
very  coarse-grained  and  homogeneous,  decomposed  on  the 
surface,  and  covered  with  drift  clay,  which  is  usually  very 
fine  in  texture,  and  very  red  from  the  large  percentage  of 
ferric  oxide.  The  hills  were  low  and  rounded,  with  a 
topography  like  that  of  the  coffee  region  of  the  Parahyba 
do  Sul  at  the  Barra  do  Pirahy.  Indeed,  the  two  regions 
are  precisely  identical  in  soil,  general  topography,  and 
climate.  The  country  is  covered  by  a  dense  virgin  forest, 
far  more  luxuriant  than  that  which  clothes  the  tertiary 
plains.  The  country  continues  with  the  same  general 
character  to  Urucu,  where  it  becomes  diversified  by  ab 
rupt  gneiss  hills,  many  of  which  are  bare  and  precipitous, 
and  give  to  the  scenery  a  very  romantic  and  pleasing  air. 
The  soils  of  the  Urucu  are  extremely  fertile,  and  yield  abun 
dantly  coffee,  cotton,  sugar-cane,  mandioca,  rice,  etc.  The 
climate  is  warm,  but  not  so  hot  as  on  the  coast,  and  a 
sea-breeze  cools  the  air  in  the  latter  part  of  the  day  and 
evening.  The  climate  appears  to  be  healthy ;  and  that  is 
the  universal  testimony  of  even  the  discontented  settlers. 
The  hills  of  Urucu  are  all  isolated  masses,  and  form  no 
well-defined  mountain  range,  though  they  appear  to  be  the 
remains  of  a  range  running  about  east-northeast,  crossing 
the  Urucu.  Westward  of  the  colony  the  country  rises 
steadily  in  altitude.  At  a  distance  of  eight  leagues  from 
Philadelphia  the  road  crosses  a  pass  in  the  Morro  do 
Kupan  at  an  elevation  of  1,800  palmos.  The  Morro  it 
self  must  be  at  least  3,000  feet  in  elevation  above  the  level 
of  the  sea. 


134  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

Philadelphia  is  a  small  village  situated  on  the  left  bank 
of  the  Todos  os  Santos,  about  forty  miles  above  its  conflu 
ence  with  the  Mucury,  and  twenty-eight  and  a  half  leagues 
west  of  Santa  Clara.  The  Todos  os  Santos  is,  like  the  rest  of 
the  rivers  of  the  Mucury  basin,  only  a  respectable  brook,  and 
of  no  especial  importance  in  itself.  Within  a  few  miles  of 
Philadelphia  there  empty  into  the  Todos  os  Santos  several 
little  streams,  among  which  are  the  Rios  S.  Jacintho,  S.  An 
tonio,  and  S.  Benedicto,  which  flow  through  fertile,  cultivated 
valleys,  and  are  settled  by  German  and  Brazilian  colonists. 
The  ground  on  which  the  village  stands  is,  according  to 
the  measurement  of  Herr  Schlobach,  engineer  of  the 
Mucury,  1,918  feet  above  the  sea.  Many  of  the  neighbor 
ing  hills  are  300  to  400  feet  high,  so  that  the  general  eleva 
tion  of  the  country  would  be  considerably  above  2,000  feet. 
So  far  as  the  quality  of  the  soils  in  the  vicinity  is  concerned, 
I  can  only  reiterate  what  I  have  said  in  speaking  of  Urucu, 
and  repeat  my  comparison  between  them  and  the  soils  of 
the  coffee  regions  of  the  Rio  Parahyba  do  Sul.  In  one  word, 
I  may  say  that  the  whole  country,  from  the  Riacho  das 
Pedras  to  the  head-waters  of  the  Mucury,  forms  one  of  the 
most  extensive  and  uniformly  fertile  agricultural  regions  in 
Brazil  south  of  the  Amazonas,  and  I  cannot  help  expressing 
my  firm  belief  that  nature  having  so  abundantly  blessed  the 
Mucury,  a  not  far  distant  day  will  see  it  teeming  with  inhab 
itants,  and  the  highway  of  a  commerce  with  the  interior  of 
Minas.*  The  road  from  Sta.  Clara  to  Philadelphia  is  well 

*  For  an  interesting  and  detailed  description  of  Philadelphia  and  vicinity, 
vide  Tschudi's  Reisen  (lurch  Siid-Amerika,  Vol.  II.  His  sketch  of  the  village 
is  wretched,  the  hills  to  the  south  appearing  like  an  Alpine  mountain  range.  I 
cannot  speak  too  strongly  of  the  Mucury  as  an  agricultural  region,  and  I  would 
call  the  attention  of  emigrants  to  it  as  one  of  the  most  fertile  and  healthy  tracts 
I  have  seen  anywhere  in  Brazil. 


PROVINCE   OF  MINAS   GERAES.  135 

laid  out  with  a  very  good  grade,  and  with  proper  repair, 
might  be  made  an  excellent  carriage-road.  The  soil  is, 
however,  very  clayey,  and  the  passage  of  the  heavy  ox-carts 
in  wet  weather,  not  to  speak  of  the  gullying  by  the  rains, 
have  cut  it  up  fearfully.  The  bridges  were  in  bad  repair  in 
1866.  The  road  from  Philadelphia  to  Alahu  is  nothing  but 
a  miserable  mule-path,  badly  laid  out,  and  obstructed  by 
bushes  and  fallen  trees,  and  in  wet  weather  most  abominably 
muddy.  Just  before  reaching  Agude  it  passes  directly  over 
the  top  of  the  highest  point,  apparently  for  the  purpose  of 
giving  the  traveller  a  view  of  the  surrounding  country. 

Westward  of  Philadelphia  the  country  is  more  hilly. 
About  one  league  from  Philadelphia  the  path  crosses  a  high 
hill,  from  which  one  has  a  magnificent  view  over  the  low 
swelling  hills  of  the  vicinity  of  Philadelphia,  with  the  rugged 
mountains  of  Urucu  in  the  background.  A  short  distance 
west  of  the  mill  of  Senhor  Josd  Maria,  the  gneiss  becomes 
very  micaceous,  passing  into  mica  slate,  and  is  very  full  of 
quartz  veins.  In  the  latter  occur  large  crystals  of  black 
tourmaline.  Crossing  the  head-waters  of  the  Mucury,  near 
Pote,  the  country  in  the  vicinity  of  Agude  is  much  more 
hilly  than  usual,  and  many  of  the  hills  are  of  considerable 
height.  The  whole  country  is  still  most  luxuriantly  forest- 
clothed,  and  the  soils  are  extraordinarily  fertile,  and  in  some 
places  almost  black.  About  twenty-seven  to  twenty-eight 
miles  west,  a  few  degrees  north  from  Philadelphia,  the 
water-shed  dividing  the  basins  of  the  Mucury  and  Jcqui- 
tinhonha  is  passed,  and  one  descends  into  the  valley  of  the 
Rio  Setubal.  For  the  last  league  or  so  bordering  the  valley 
of  the  Setubal,  the  rock  is  chiefly  mica  slate,  with  much 
quartz  in  veins  and  layers.  The  soil  is  redder  than  usual, 
full  of  little  flakes  of  mica,  and  boulders  and  fragments 


136  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

of  quartz,  angular  and  rounded,  are  found  abundantly  in  it. 
Near  the  post,  marking  thirteen  leagues  from  Philadelphia, 
the  mica  slate  appeared  to  have  a  strike  east-west.  Dip 
vertical. 

The  Jequitinhonha,  one  of  the  most  important  rivers 
of  JVIinas  Geraes,  takes  its  rise  in  the  knot  of  the  Cordil- 
heira  do  Espinhaqo,  in  the  Serra  Frio,  three  leagues  west 
of  the  town  of  Serro,  and  about  the  same  distance  south- 
southwest  of  the  Peak  of  Itambe",  whence  come  the  waters 
of  two  or  more  of  its  little  tributaries. 

The  area  drained  by  it  forms  an  irregular  triangle,  of 
which  one  side,  from  its  head-waters  to  Belmonte,  is  about 
320  miles.  An  almost  continuous  range  of  Serras  runs 
with  a  zigzag  course  along  this  line  to  the  confines  of 
the  province.  On  the  west  it  is  bounded  by  the  Serra  do 
Espinhago,  the  water-shed  lying  west  of  the  Serra  do  Grao 
Mogor.  This  side  of  the  triangle,  which  runs  approxi 
mately  north-northeast,  is  165  miles  in  length.  The  remain 
ing  side,  which  marks  a  water-shed  determined  by  a  series 
of  elevated  plains  or  chapadas,  and  which  runs  almost  east- 
west,  is  210  miles  long.  The  Jequitinhonha  at  first  flows 
with  a  general  northeast  course  for  about  130  miles,  when 
it  receives  from  the  northwest  a  small  river  called  Itacam- 
birussu,  which  rises  in  the  Serra  d'ltacambira,  in  the  south 
ern  part  of  an  oblong  region  west  of  the  Serra  do  Grao  Mogor, 
formed  by  a  range  of  serras  or  highlands  which  leave  the 
Serra  do  Grao  Mogor,  and  bowing  out  westward  join  the  Grao 
Mogor  range  again  eighty  miles  to  the  north.  The  centre  of 
this  region  appears  to  be  flat,  and  is  diversified  with  a  large 
number  of  little  lakes,  which  discharge  their  waters  into  the 
Itacambirussu.  This  river  crosses  the  Grao  Mogor  range 
between  the  Serra  do  Grao  Mogor  proper  and  the  Serra 


PROVINCE   OF  MINAS   GERAES.  137 

Sobrado,  and  reaches  the  valley  of  the  Jequitinhonha.  It  then 
runs  with  a  southeast  course  for  a  few  leagues,  and  empties 
into  the  river  of  that  name.  The  Jequitinhonha  then  changes 
its  course  towards  the  east,  and,  some  eight  leagues  farther 
down,  receives  the  Rio  Vacaria,  a  small  stream  which  has 
its  source  in  a  number  of  lakes  in  the  northern  third  of 
the  serra-enclosed  region  west  of  Grao  Mogor.  After  this 
it  changes  its  course  to  the  southeast,  and  in  lat.  17°  S., 
long.  1°  80'  E.  of  Rio  unites  with  the  Rio  Arassuahy.  The 
Arassuahy  is  a  large  stream  which  rises  in  the  serras  a  few 
miles  northeast  of  the  Peak  of  Itambe',  and  flows  parallel 
with,  and  on  an  average  of  fifteen  to  twenty  miles,  south 
east  of  the  Jequitinhonha.  Its  principal  affluents  are  the 
Rio  Soledade  on  the  left,  and  the  Itamarandiba,  Fanado, 
Capivary,  Agua  Suja,  Setubal,  Gravata  and  Calhao,  which 
flow  into  it  from  the  south,  or  right,  in  the  above  descend 
ing  order,  all,  with  the  exception  of  the  Capivary  and  Agua 
Suja,  having  their  sources  in  the  high  lands  separating  the 
Jequitinhonha  basin  from  that  of  the  Doce  and  Mucury. 

The  Jequitinhonha,  after  having  been  increased  by  the 
waters  of  the  Arassuahy,  continues  its  course  a  few  degrees 
east  of  northeast  to  the  sea.  It  is  obstructed  by  many  dan 
gerous  rapids  and  cascades,  and  on  the  boundary  line,  in  the 
very  extreme  northeast  corner  of  Minas,  there  is  a  magnifi 
cent  series  of  falls,  which,  in  the  aggregate,  must  have  an 
altitude  of  300  feet.  Eight  leagues  farther  down,  at  Caxoei- 
rinha,  it  leaves  the  hills,  and,  reaching  the  coast  tertiary 
plains,  flows,  a  broad,  beautiful  stream,  to  the  sea.  Above 
Caxoeirinha,  it  is  navigable  of  course  only  for  canoes.  The 
Rio  Pardo  is  so  closely  connected  with  the  Jequitinhonha 
in  the  general  topographical  features  of  the  country  through 
which  it  flows,  that,  before  describing  the  topography  and 


138  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

geology  of  the  Jequitinhonha  basin  in  detail,  I  will  first  give 
a  sketch  of  its  hydrography.  This  river,  a  much  smaller 
stream  than  the  Jequitinhonha,  takes  its  rise  in  the  Serra 
das  Almas,  to  the  north  of  the  head-waters  of  the  Yacaria, 
and  flows  with  a  course  almost  west-east,  emptying  into  the 
sea  a  few  miles  north  of  the  mouth  of  the  Jequitinhonha, 
and  receiving  by  a  side  canal,  as  will  be  hereafter  described, 
some  of  the  waters  of  that  stream  just  before  it  reaches  the  sea. 
Its  basin  is  triangular  in  shape,  long  from  west  to  east,  but 
narrow  from  northwest-south.  It  is  bounded  on  the  south 
by  the  water-shed  of  the  Jequitinhonha,  which  runs  west- 
east.  The  south  side  of  the  triangle  coincides  with  this, 
and  is  210  miles  long.  The  west  side,  running  along  the 
Serra  das  Almas,  is  about  sixty  miles  long,  while  the  remain 
ing  side  is  about  195  miles  in  length.  Gerber  gives  the  area 
of  the  basin  of  the  Pardo  as  420  square  leagues,  and  that  of 
the  Jequitinhonha  as  2,200.*  Hydrographically,  above  their 
lower  courses  the  two  rivers  form  separate  systems,  but  to 
pographically  and  geologically  they  are  very  closely  united. 
The  united  basins  are  essentially  eozoic  and  palaeozoic. 
Gneiss,  mica  slate,  sienite,  clay  slate,  quartzite,  and  lime 
stones  form  the  bounding,  mountain  ranges,  and  the  bottom 
rock  of  the  region.  Through  the  kindness  of  my  friend,  Dr. 
Anto.  de  Lacerda,  of  Bahia,  I  have  in  my  possession  a  litho 
graphed  section  across  the  country,  from  the  Serra  Congonha 
across  the  Grao  Mogor,  extending  into  the  valley  of  the 
Jequitinhonha,  a  section  constructed  by  the  late  Dr.  Virgilio 
Helmreichen.  According  to  this  section,  the  serras  of  Con 
gonha  and  Grao  Mogor  are  composed  of  metamorphic  slates, 
while  the  intervening  country  and  the  valley  of  the  Jequitin- 

*  Nocoes  Geographicas,  $-c.,  da  Prov.  de  Minus  Geraes,  por  Henrique  Ger 
ber,  p.  9,  1 863. 


PROVINCE   OF   MINAS   GERAES.  139 

honha  is  composed  of  primitive  rock.  I  have  never  visited 
the  Serra  do  Grao  Mogor,  and  can  therefore  say  nothing  of  it 
from  personal  observation.*  At  Calhao  intelligent  persons 
informed  me  that  it  is  composed  of  slates.  The  serra  is  dis 
tinctly  visible  from  near  Minas  Novas,  though  distant  some 
thirty  miles,  so  that  its  height  may  be  inferred.  The  outlines 
of  the  hills  are  entirely  different  from  those  of  the  gneiss  serras 
of  the  coast.  Gold  occurs  in  this  serra,  together  with  the 
ores  of  other  metals,  such  as  iron,  which  last  is  mined  and 
smelted  at  a  locality  called  Tropinha,  two  leagues  to  the  south 
of  the  town  of  Grao  Mogor.  The  region  embraced  between 
Minas  Novas  and  Calhao  is,  according  to  my  own  observations, 
composed  of  clay  slates,  and  this  group  of  rocks  undoubtedly 
extends  considerably  to  the  west  and  southwest  of  Minas 
Novas.  From  near  the  mouth  of  the  Arassuahy  to  a  little 
below  Caxoeirinha  the  rocks  are  gneiss,  mica  slates,  and  the 
like.  All  these  rocks  have  been  folded,  metamorphosed,  and 
denuded. 

During  the  tertiary,  as  I  shall  further  on  attempt  to  show, 
the  plateau  of  Brazil  was  sunk  so  that  the  waters  rose  to 
a  height  of  more  than  3,000  feet  above  their  present  level, 
and  flooded  the  great  river  basins  of  the  whole  country, 
this  submergence  being  of  almost  continental  extent.  In 
the  basins  of  the  Jequitinhonha  and  Pardo,  a  great  thick 
ness  of  more  or  less  arenaceous  clays,  sandstones,  &c.  was 
deposited,  filling  up  the  valley  to  a  height  in  some  places  of 
fully  1,000  feet,  converting  it  into  an  immense  plain,  whose 
level  above  the  sea  must  be  on  an  average  quite  3,000  feet. 

*  Spix  and  Martius  visited  the  Serra  da  Grao  Mogor,  which  they  describe  as 
being  only  about  4,300  feet  high.  The  prevailing  formation  of  this  region  is 
quartzose  slate  (quarz-schiefer).  Boulders  of  white  quartz  (sometimes  fibrous(?)) 
are  abundantly  scattered  over  the  surface,  and  contain  asbestus.  Gold  and 
diamonds  occur  here. 


140  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

These  deposits  I  have  called  tertiary,  because  along  the 
whole  coast  they  are  undisturbed,  nowhere  participating  in 
the  disturbance  of  the  cretaceous,  and  because  the  drift  sheet 
extends  over  them.  I  believe  them  not  to  be  drift,  because 
they  were  denuded  by  river  action  anterior  to  the  formation 
of  the  drift  sheet,  which  descends  their  slopes,  and  extends 
over  the  slate  and  gneiss  hills  left  bare.  Similar  deposits 
were  at  the  same  time  laid  down  in  the  valleys  of  the  Sao 
Francisco,  Parana,  Parahyba  do  Sul.  And  indeed  over  the 
whole  plateau  to  the  westward,  as  we  shall  see  further  on. 
All  these  are  older  than  the  coast  tertiaries. 

In  April,  1866, 1  entered  the  Jequitinhonha  valley,  on  the 
Setubal,  and  after  making  a  detour  to  Alto  dos  Bois,  crossed 
the  country  to  Calhao,  from  which  place  I  found  it  prac 
ticable  to  visit  Minas  Novas,  after  which  I  returned  to 
Calhao,  and  descended  the  Jequitinhonha  to  the  sea.  I 
propose  now  to  give  the  results  of  my  explorations  of  this 
region,  following  very  nearly  my  line  of  travel.* 

The  tertiary  clays  are  denuded  away  from  the  region  of 
the  head-waters  of  the  Setubal,  and  the  wider  valley  of  this 
river  is  scooped  out  of  these  rocks,  the  river-bed  being  the 
solid  gneiss  or  slate,  or  excavated  in  alluvial  deposits  laid 
down  by  the  river.  The  Setubinho  is  a  little  river  which 
flows  from  the  southwest  in  a  valley  bounded,  on  the  one 
side,  by  the  hills  of  the  water-shed  between  the  Mucury  and 
Jequitinhonha  basins,  and  on  the  other  by  the  tertiary 
plains,  though  the  slopes  on  both  sides  are  of  the  old  mcta- 
morphic  rocks,  the  tertiary  beds  merely  capping  the  hills  on 

*  The  months  of  February  and  March,  1866,  were  exceedingly  rainy  over 
the  Mucury  region,  and  so  was  the  month  of  April,  which  I  spent  in  the  basin 
of  the  Jequitinhonha.  During  this  time  I  was  obliged  to  travel  over  the  worst 
possible  roads  in  almost  constant  rains,  so  that  my  geological  studies  were  made 
under  a  great  disadvantage. 


PROVINCE   OF   MINAS   GERAES.  141 

the  northwest  side.  The  slopes  toward  the  Setubal,  Seturna, 
and  Setubinho  are  all  very  steep,  and  for  a  large  part  bare 
and  excessively  stony,  the  soil  being  full  of  rounded  and 
angular  fragments  of  quartz  often  of  large  size.  Over  large 
areas  it  is  very  barren,  the  only  vegetation  consisting  of 
low,  gnarly  branched,  sparsely  scattered  shrubs  and  trees. 

One  observes  immediately  on  entering  the  valley  of  the 
Setubal  from  the  Mucury  that  the  forest  thins  out  and  dis 
appears  from  the  hillsides,  though  it  extends  down  the  wet 
valleys  and  over  such  areas  as  may  have  rich  soils,  but  even 
there  the  forest  has  not  the  same  luxuriance  it  had  in  the 
valleys  of  the  Mucury,  and  there  are  many  trees  confined  to 
each  separate  region.  It  is,  however,  on  the  open  grounds 
that  the  change  in  the  vegetation  is  most  marked.  On 
leaving  the  forest  (sahindo  do  matto*  as  the  Brazilians 
say)  one  of  the  first  plants  to  attract  one's  attention  is  an 
arboraceous  species  of  the  order  of  Solanacese,  called  the 
Boleiro.  This  tree  attains  to  a  height  of  fifteen  to  twenty 
feet,  and  forms  a  conspicuous  element  in  the  landscape. 
Its  leaves  are  light-green  and  curly,  its  flowers  bluish-purple, 
and  its  fruit,  which  is  of  the  size  of  a  Baldwin  apple,  is 
edible  ;  but  of  the  flora  of  the  campos  more  anon. 

The  high  and  steep  hill  north  of  the  Setubal  is  almost 
bare  on  the  south  and  west ;  but  the  northern  side  is  covered 
by  a  stiff  drift  clay,  and  is  clothed  with  a  thick  wood, 
densely  filled  with  a  luxuriant  growth  of  a  species  of  bam 
boo,  the  slender-stemmed  Taquara  lisa  of  the  Brazilians. 
Thence  to  Corrego  Grande  the  country  is  composed  of  highly 
micaceous  and  schistose  gneiss,  and  is  covered  by  a  thick 
sheet  of  drift  clay,  in  which  are  boulders  and  pebbles  of 

*  The  Brazilians  speak  of  the  plains  as  fora,  outside,  and  of  the  forest  as 
dentro,  or  inside. 


142        GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL  GEOGRAPHY. 

quartz,  and  the  country  is  wooded.  At  the  Fazendas  of 
Santa  Barbara  and  Santo  Antonio,  and  in  the  neighborhood, 
this  forms  a  rich  soil,  which  is  very  productive.  Maize  is 
largely  cultivated  in  this  region,  and  takes  the  place  of 
mandioca  for  the  making  of  farinha.  Wheat  grows  well 
here,  and  I  saw  some  most  excellent  sheaves  at  a  farm 
house  near  the  Setubal,  but  the  farmers  complain  that  it  has 
to  be  planted  in  clumps  like  rice,  and  weeded,  which  is  very 
troublesome.  At  the  Fazenda  of  Santa  Barbara  the  country 
bordering  the  Rio  Setubal  is  very  hilly.  The  prevailing 
rock  is  mica  slate  or  schistose  gneiss,  with  a  general  strike 
of  N.  80°  E.,  and  northward  dip.  I  have  recorded  no  south 
ward  dips. 

Wishing  to  ascertain  the  character  of  the  chapada  west 
of  the  Setubal,  Mr.  Copeland  and  I  made  an  excursion 
thither  from  Santa  Barbara.  The  account  of  the  journey 
I  transcribe  with  few  changes  from  my  note-book,  in 
order  not  only  to  give  an  idea  of  the  country,  but  of  the 
disadvantage  under  which  the  geologist  labors  in  exploring 
in  the  rainy  season. 

For  the  last  two  months  the  rain  had  been  constant, 
and  it  was  still  raining  when  we  reached  Santa  Barbara. 
Our  time  was  very  limited,  but  to  leave  the  Setubal  with 
out  seeing  the  topography  of  the  plains  was  not  to  be 
thought  of,  so,  on  the  last  day  of  March,  we  set  out  on  mule- 
back,  and  unencumbered  by  baggage,  for  Alto  dos  Bois,  a 
point  described  as  being  so  elevated  as  to  overlook  the 
plains,  and  enable  one,  if  the  weather  were  clear,  to  see 
across  the  valley  of  the  Jequitinhonha,  and  discern  the 
mountains  of  Grao  Mogor.  It  was  raining  heavily.  We 
crossed  the  Setubal  by  a  bridge  below  Santa  Barbara,  finding 
the  stream  very  much  swollen  and  turbid,  and  the  meadows 


PROVINCE   OF   MINAS   GERAES. 


143 


bordering  it  inundated.  We  followed  up  the  valley  a  short 
distance,  passing  through  cornfields  on  the  hillside,  and 
crossing  a  high  hill  by  a  miserable  path  leading  through  a 
wood  which  was  so  tangled  with  bushes,  unha  de  gato,  bam 
boos,  &c.,  that  it  was  with  difficulty  that  we  could  burst  our 
way  through  it  by  main  strength.  We  reached  at  last  the 
valley  of  the  little  river  Santa  Rita.  Thus  far  the  country 
was  of  the  same  character  as  at  Santa  Barbara,  and  the 
surface  was  covered  by  the  same  drift  paste  and  boulder 
deposit.  For  a  distance  of  some  two  miles  or  more  farther 
on,  after  a  long  and  steep  ascent,  we  reached  the  foot  of  the 
chapada,  which  presented  a  long,  steep,  even  slope,  as  in  the 
following  ideal  section. 


a,  ACL 


It  was  impossible  to  estimate  satisfactorily  the  height  of 
the  chapada  top  from  the  Santa  Rita  valley,  because  of  the 
wooded  state  of  the  country  and  the  obscurity  of  the  weather, 
but  after  having  ascended  and  descended  the  same  slope,  I 
should  judge  that  it  is  fully  800  feet,  if  not  very  much  more. 
The  lower  part  of  the  slope  is  covered  with  the  ordinary  drift 
paste,  filled  with  boulders  of  quartz,  gneiss,  and  mica  slate. 
The  quartz  of  this  region  is  so  crystallized  as  to  break  up 
into  a  coarse  angular  gravel.  About  half-way  up  I  saw  mica 
slate  in  sitti  traversed  by  a  thick  quartz  vein.  Farther  up 


144  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

the  soil  changed  in  character,  and,  when  wet,  was  of  an 
umber  brown  color,  and  quite  free  from  stones.  The  road 
went  straight  up  this  slope,  and  being  cut  up  into  piloes  * 
by  the  feet  of  the  mules,  formed  a  sort  of  staircase  of 
stiff,  adhesive,  and  slippery  clay,  which  made  the  ascent 
exceedingly  wearisome.  Arrived  at  the  top  of  the  chapada, 
we  found  ourselves  on  a  wooded  plain.  The  soil  seemed 
very  rich,  and  was  of  a  dark  brown  color  on  the  surface ; 
but  I  observed  that  the  material  brought  up  from  below 
by  the  Saiiba  ants  was  clayey  and  brick-red,  like  the  ordi 
nary  drift  paste  of  the  gneiss  regions.  I  saw  a  few  quartz 
boulders  lying  on  the  surface.  I  looked  carefully  in  the 
ascent  for  any  cuttings  which  might  enable  me  to  ascertain 
the  material  of  which  the  chapada  was  composed,  but  I  saw 
none.  The  woods  consist  of  large  trees,  but  they  are  rather 
sparsely  sown,  and  they  belonged  to  the  catinga  class, 
losing  their  leaves  in  the  dry  season.  There  is  an  abun 
dant  undergrowth  of  bushes  and  Samambaia  ferns  (Pteris 
caudata  (?).  The  beautiful  Indaid  palm  (Attalea)  is  very 
abundant  here,  and  its  plumy  coronals  add  very  much  to 
the  picturesqueness  of  the  scenery.  It  was  long  after 
nightfall  when  we  reached  the  open  campos  at  As  Trovoadas 
and  crossed  a  very  deep  valley  to  the  place  called  Batatal, 
where,  jaded  and  wet,  we  spent  the  night.  The  next  morn 
ing  we  visited  the  Alto,  or  the  highest  point  of  land  in  the 
vicinity.  It  had  been  raining  ;  but,  providentially,  for  a 
half-hour  it  cleared  up,  and  we  had  an  almost  uninterrupted 
and  most  magnificent  view  of  the  country  on  every  side. 
The  Alto  is  the  name  given  to  the  highest  point  of  the 

*  It  is  well  known  that  mules  travelling  over  a  bad  road  follow  in  one  an 
other's  footsteps,  cutting  up  the  road  into  a  series  of  transverse  muddy  troughs, 
separated  often  by  high  ridges,  over  which  the  animal  carefully  steps. 


PROVINCE  OF   MINAS   GERAES.  145 

swelling  ridge  between  the  valleys  of  the  Fanado  and 
Capivary.  From  this  point  the  country  descends  with 
very  long  sweeping  curves  to  the  river  valleys  on  both 
sides,  the  ridge  itself  growing  gradually  lower  toward  Mi- 
nas  Novas.  The  valley  of  the  Capivary  is  very  broad, 
and  in  profile  rounded,  not  angular.  The  long  and  gentle 
curves  of  this  landscape  are  very  noteworthy,  and  are 
very  different  from  those  which  result  solely  from  water 
denudation  or  erosion.  The  Fanado  valley  is  of  the  same 
character.  East  of  the  Capivary  the  land  rises  in  a  high 
ridge  called  the  Caixao,  which  runs  northward,  present 
ing  the  same  topographical  features.  This  whole  country 
is  covered  on  the  surface  Avith  red  drift  clay  and  pebbles, 
and  this  layer  is  twenty  or  more  feet  in  depth.  No  solid 
rock  is  to  be  seen,  but  on  the  sharp  descent  into  the  valleys, 
and  in  certain  gullies,  especially  at  the  foot  of  an  isolated, 
dome-shaped  mass  which  rises  above  the  general  level  of  the 
country  at  As  Trovoadas,  the  rock,  in  a  very  decomposed 
state,  is  seen  to  be  crystalline  and  metamorphic,  and  in 
beds  highly  inclined.  At  As  Trovoadas,  as  nearly  as  I  could 
make  out,  the  strike  was  N.  60°  W.,  and  the  dip  40°  north 
ward,  but  the  observation  was  taken  from  decomposed  rock, 
and  may  not  be  very  reliable.  The  rock  appears  to  be  com 
posed  of  feldspar  and  mica,  with  quartz  in  rounded  grains, 
but  when  decomposed  it  is  red,  very  soft,  and  crumbling. 
The  soil  in  the  gully,  where  the  above  observation  was  taken, 
is  full  of  fragments  of  very  limpid  quartz  and  crystals  of 
kyanite  and  black  tourmaline.*  This  rock  must  be  very  deeply 

*  The  Diccionario  Geografico  says  (Vol.  II.  p.  98),  that  antimony  occurs  at 
Alto  dos  Bois,  and  I  heard  many  persons  on  the  Setubal  say  that  gold  had  been 
found  in  the  ridge  separating  the  Setubal  from  the  Capivary.  Saint  Hilaire 
also  says  that  antimony  is  found  at  the  Alto.  But  the  antimonio  of  the  Bra 
zilians  is  only  a  pyrites. 

VOL.    I.  7  J 


146  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

decomposed,  for  the  freshly  cut  gullies  are  excavated  to  a 
great  depth,  and  the  river  valleys  are  evidently  cut  through 
soft  material.  Their  shape  is  not  such  as  usually  results 
from  river  erosion,  for  in  soft  materials  river  valleys  have 
sides  either  bluff  or  with  angular  slopes  of  about  thirty  de 
grees  or  more,  and  bluffs  of  that  kind  are  to  be  found  along 
the  edge  of  the  valley  recently  washed  out  by  torrents. 

The  tertiary  clays  and  decomposed  metamorphic  rock 
being  of  so  nearly  the  same  consistency,  it  is  not  at  all  won 
derful  that  in  their  denudation  they  should  both  wear  down 
together,  and  that  the  metamorphic  hills  should  pass  almost 
insensibly  into  the  plains.  I  believe  that  the  wide  upper 
valley  of  the  Capivary  is  one  of  erosion  anterior  to  the  drift, 
and  that  the  present  swelling  outlines  and  long  curved  slopes 
of  its  bounding  ridges  are  'due  to  glacial  action  over  a 
surface  deeply  decomposed. 

The  hillsides  and  slopes  of  this  region  are  sparsely  covered 
with  coarse  grass  and  small  flowering  plants.  It  was  like 
a  garden.  Trees  are  few  and  scattered,  and  are  noted  for 
their  gnarly  branches  and  rough  bark.  A  little  palm  (  Cocos 
flexuosa)  is  not  uncommon  on  the  campos.  Another  con 
spicuous  little  tree  of  these  campos  is  the  Pao  de  Paina,  which 
has  a  small  stem  covered  by  a  thick  growth  of  a  woolly  sub 
stance,  used  to  fill  pillows,  &c.  It  is  very  abundant  in  the 
neighborhood  of  As  Trovoadas.  Sometimes  the  trees  form 
clusters  (capQes)  in  low  and  wet  places,  and  along  the  river 
side,  in  the  valley  of  the  Capivary.  In  the  dry  season  these 
campos  are  dried  up,  and  vegetation  is  withered  and  appears 
dead.  The  lands,  though  rich,  are  worthless,  except  as  fur 
nishing  pasturage  for  herds  of  cattle  which  abound  on  these 
campos.*  The  Ema,  or  American  ostrich  (Rhea  Americana), 

*  According  to  Spix  and  Martius,  from  the  Arraial  do   Rio  Manso  there 


PROVINCE   OF  MINAS   GERAES.  147 

is  found  on  the  campos,  but  appears  now  to  oe  rare  in  this 
vicinity.  It  occurs  more  abundantly  farther  north  on  the 
campos  of  the  Rio  Pardo,  and  on  the  campos  of  the  Sao  Fran 
cisco  basin.  It  ranges  from  Cear4  to  Buenos  Ay  res.  In 
Patagonia  another  species,  Rhea  Darwini,  is  found.  There 
is  also  a  species  of  deer  (Cervus  campestris),  called  by  the 
Mineiros  Veado  campeiro,  which  is  not  uncommon  on  the 
plains.  But  after  a  half-hour's  enjoyment  of  the  magnificent 
view,  down  came  the  heavy  rain  with  a  strong  chilling  wind, 
and  we  left  the  Alto  to  return.  The  steep  slope  from  the 
chapada  to  Santa  Rita  was  so  slippery  and  untrustworthy, 
that  we  were  obliged  to  make  the  descent  on  foot  in  the 
deep  mud,  leading  our  mules. 

From  Santa  Rita  we  crossed  a  steep,  high  ridge  by  a  road 
terribly  cut  up,  and  so  full  of  loose  quartz  stones  as  to  afford 
a  very  insecure  foothold  for  the  mules,  and  at  night  reached 
the  river  Setubinho  wet  and  sore,  and  there  we  spent  the 

stretches  northward  a  low  plateau,  in  a  north-south  direction,  for  several 
leagues,  apparently  tying  in  with  the  great  chapada  forming  the  dividing 
line  between  the  Jequitinhonha  and  Arassuahy,  opposite  Minas  Novas.  "  The 
vegetation  of  these  uniform,  elevated  plains,  which  extends  from  Tejuco  to 
Minas  Novas,  and  gently  decreases  in  height,  shows  a  form  which  we  had  not 
before  observed  to  a  similar  extent."  Low  crooked-branched  and  broad-leaved 
trees  lift  themselves  here  and  there  amongst  a  dense  thicket  of  many  kinds  of 
bushes,  which  alternate  now  with  bare  rock-sheets,  now  with  thirsty  open  fields, 
or,  in  the  low  places  and  beds  of  streams,  with  a  somewhat  higher  and  sappy 
wood  (Capao).  The  bush  they  call  here  Serrado,  or,  when  it  is  lower  and 
without  trees,  Carrasco.  The  plants  belonging  to  it  do  not  all  lose  their  leaves 
during  the  dry  season,  and  in  a  note  our  authors  add  :  "  Particularly  those  of  the 
genera  Sida,  Ochna,  Mimosa,  Acacia,  Qualea,  Coccoloba,  Kielmeyera,  Laurus, 
Nycterosition,  Arrazoa,  Barnadesia,  Albertinia,  Anona,  Banisteria,  Malpighia, 
Aspidosperma.  The  stemless  palms,  Astrocaryum  campestre  and  Diplothemiun 
campestre,  and  the  low  Cocos  flexuosa,  one  sees  here."  (Vol.  II.  pp.  473,  474.) 
A  very  interesting  article  in  Danish,  on  the  campos  region  of  Brazil,  from  the 
pen  of  Eugen.  Warming,  is  to  be  found  in  the  Tidsskrifl  for  pop.  Frcem.  af 
Naturvidenskaben,  3d"  Rcekke,  5"  Bind,  !•*•  Hefte,  1868. 


148  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL    GEOGRAPHY. 

night.  The  morning  found  the  little  river  swollen  to  its  ut 
most  capacity,  and  running  like  a  mill-race,  turbid  and  yel 
low,  and  it  was  with  much  difficulty  that  we  forded  it.  The 
Rio  Setubal  we  found  also  in  as  swollen  a  state  ;  mules  and 
horses  gave  out,  and  the  weary  travellers  waded  through  the 
mud  many  a  long  mile,  and  arrived  drenched  at  the  Fazenda 
de  Santa  Barbara. 

Leaving  Santa  Barbara  for  Calhao,  I  observed  near  a  little 
brook  at  the  Fazenda  da  Lagtia  rounded  quartz  boulders, 
overspread  by  drift  clay.  Beyond  this  the  road,  after 
passing  a  low  flat,  ascends  a  gentle  slope,  on  which  the  same 
are  seen  at  a  height  of  one  hundred  feet  above  the  brook ; 
and  a  short  distance  farther  on  and  higher  up  the  road  is 
full  of  coarse  gravel,  intermixed  with  angular  boulders. 
Mica  slate  is  seen  occasionally  cropping  out  on  the  hillsides, 
and  on  the  top  of  a  chapada,  before  reaching  the  Fazenda 
of  the  Tenente  Honorio  Ottoni,  I  saw  in  the  drift  paste 
rounded  pebbles.  From  the  chapada  one  descends  into  the 
valley  of  one  of  the  tributaries  of  the  river  Gravata.  The 
hills  of  the  valley  are  mica  slate  and  compact  dark  gray 
gneiss,  with  a  strike  of  N.  40°  W.  and  a  dip  apparently  to 
the  northeast,  or  vertical.  Near  the  fazenda  are  numerous 
road  cuttings  through  the  hillside,  showing  the  red  drift 
clays  to  be  many  feet  in  depth,  and  containing  an  abundance 
of  large  fragments  of  gneiss,  quartz,  and  mica  slate.  The 
river  Gravata,  where  the  path  to  Calhao  crosses  it,  runs  in 
a  deep,  narrow  valley  bordered  by  gneiss  slopes,  rising  to 
chapada  plains  above.  I  observed,  in  ascending  the  slope 
to  leave  the  valley,  that,  for  some  five  hundred  feet,  the 
slope  was  strewn  with  quartz  boulders,  which  are  very 
numerous  and  large.  About  half-way  up  the  slope  there  is 
an  exposure  of  a  white  or  brownish  schistose  rock,  much  de- 


PROVINCE   OF   MINAS   GERAES.  149 

cayed,  which  seems  to  be  wholly  made  up  of  very  minute 
and  rounded  grains  of  limpid  quartz,  without  visible  cement 
in  the  specimens  I  examined.  This  rock  had  apparently  a 
dip  of  20°  to  the  southward.  The  relation  of  this  rock  to 
the  gneiss,  or  to  the  materials  of  the  chapada,  I  did  not  make 
out ;  but  I  much  suspect  that  the  dip  was  only  local.  This 
chapada  extends  from  the  Gravatd  to  a  little  valley  called 
Estrella,  north  of  which  is  a  plain  of  very  wide  extent,  and 
perfectly  level.  I  find  in  my  diary  a  note  that  on  the  top 
of  this  plain  I  saw  quartz  boulders  lying.  Two  little  streams, 
the  Agua  da  Nova  and  Diamantino,  take  their  rise  on  the 
plain,  in  quite  extensive,  shallow,  marshy  lagoons,  but  they 
soon  cut  for  themselves  valleys  down  to  the  older  rocks  be 
neath.  These  plains  are  more  or  less  thickly  covered  with 
bushes,  gnarly-branched  trees,  and  occasional  thickets.  I 
saw  no  Indai&s  here,  but  a  little  crooked-stemmed  palm, 
called  Licuri,  the  bases  of  whose  leaf-stalks  were  persistent 
for  some  distance  down  the  stem,  was  quite  common. 
Ferns  are  rare.  Among  the  trees  are  several  species  which 
produce  edible  fruit,  especially  the  Mangabeira,  Bacupari, 
Piqui,  &c.  Great  numbers  of  cattle  are  pastured  on  these 
plains,  and  grazing  is  one  of  the  principal  occupations  of 
this  part  of  the  country.  The  cattle  are  allowed  to  roam 
over  the  plains,  and  are  taken  care  of  by  mounted  vaqueiros, 
who  dress  from  head  to  foot  in  leather,  that  they  may  be 
able  to  break  through  the  thickets  in  their  chase  after  the 
cattle. 

The  valley  of  the  Agua  da  Nova  not  only  deepens,  but 
grows  wider  in  descending,  and  opens  out  broadly,  on  leav 
ing  the  chapada,  into  the  great  valley  of  the  Calhao  and 
Arassuahy.  Running  along  the  edge  of  the  chapada,  at  the 
top  of  the  slope,  are  occasional  perpendicular  bluifs,  in  which 


150  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

is  exposed  a  thick  horizontal  bed  of  sandstone,  which  is 
seen  forming  similar  bluffs  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  valley. 
This  bed  forms  the  upper  stratum  of  the  chapada  formation, 
and  may  be  seen  forming  bluffs  of  the  same  sort  along  the 
valley  of  the  Calhao.  The  sandstone  is  white,  very  com 
pact,  and  rather  fine-grained,  but  there  are  some  beds  which 
are  coarse,  containing  pebbles,  and  with  a  hard,  opaque, 
white  cement,  resembling  that  of  the  tertiary  sandstone  of 
Itahunas.  Veins  of  milky  quartz  traverse  these  rocks. 
They  certainly  bear  an  altered  and  old  look,  but  they  are 
here  surface-layers,  and  have  never  been  disturbed.  The 
valleys  of  the  Calhao,  and  of  some  of  the  little  rivers  west, 
coalesce  several  miles  before  reaching  the  Arassuahy,  leav 
ing  the  metamorphic  rocks,  over  a  very  large  area,  denuded 
of  the  formation  of  the  chapadas.  This  forms  a  great  de 
pression  like  a  lake  valley,  some  800  or  1,000  feet  below  the 
plain,  and  which  is  surrounded  on  all  sides  by  high,  level- 
topped  chapadas,  which  project  in  capes  and  promontories 
between  the  river  valleys.  The  bottom  of  the  depression  is 
diversified  by  low,  rounded,  wooded  hills.  From  the  top 
of  the  sharp  spur  of  the  chapada,  on  the  western  side  of  the 
valley  of  the  Agua  da  Nova,  one  has  a  magnificent  view  over 
this  great  valley.  It  was  near  the  close  of  a  clear  afternoon 
that  we  rode  out  on  the  edge  of  this  spur  to  descend,  and 
suddenly,  leaving  the  bushes  of  the  plain,  saw  before  us  the 
beautiful  valley.  The  level-topped  chapadas  beyond  the  Aras 
suahy  extended  like  a  wall  to  the  north  of  the  depression, 
blue  in  the  far  distance,  while  below  us  lay  the  billowy  sea 
of  foliage  which  clothed  the  bottom  of  the  valley.  Weeks 
of  sore,  weary  forest  wanderings,  beneath  a  rainy  sky,  were 
forgotten,  and  the  heart,  homesick,  tired,  and  often  disap 
pointed,  gladdened  as  the  eye  revelled  in  the  beauties  of  the 


PROVINCE   OF   MINAS    GERAES.  151 

landscape ;  but  the  sun  was  rapidly  nearing  the  level  horizon, 
and  our  camarada  warned  us  that  we  must  descend.  So, 
turning  our  mules  into  the  steep  path,  we  soon  passed  into 
the  thicket,  and  the  landscape  was  lost  to  view.  It  was  as 
when,  after  the  curtain  has  dropped  at  the  close  of  the  last 
act  of  an  opera,  and  the  memory  of  the  brilliant  scenery 
and  the  rich  music  still  lingers  in  the  heart,  one  wakes  to 
feel  the  sorrows  and  the  realities  of  life  again. 

The  country  bordering  the  Calhao  River,  for  several 
miles  above  its  mouth,  is  composed  of  slates,  which  are 
seen  exposed  in  the  banks  of  some  of  the  little  brooks 
flowing  into  the  Calhao.*  These  slates,  on  the  right  bank 
of  the  Arassuahy  River  at  Calhao,  are  fine-grained  and  sili 
ceous,  and  have  the  slaty  structure  well  developed.  They 
dip  to  the  N.  70D  W.,  at  angles  varying  from  50°  to  80°. 
The  planes  of  cleavage  dip  to  the  south  20°  W.,  but  I  have 
omitted  to  note  the  angle.  The  country  forming  the  bottom 
of  the  valley  is  much  more  uneven  than  one  would  suppose 
when  looking  at  it  from  the  chapada,  and  some  of  the  hills 
are  several  hundred  feet  high.  They  are  everywhere  cov 
ered  by  the  characteristic  red  drift-clay  on  the  surface,  under 
which  occurs  usually  a  sheet  of  pebbles,  as  at  Rio.  This 
pebble-sheet  is  sometimes  very  thick,  and  being  exposed  on 
hillsides  by  the  washing  away  of  the  clays,  leaves  them  very 
barren.  As  a  general  thing  the  country  is  sparsely  wood 
ed,  but  ordinarily  the  forest  (catinga)  does  not  bear  the 

*  At  the  head-waters  of  the  Calhao  Spix  and  Martius  found  the  rock  to  be 
coarse-grained,  whitish,  unstratified,  with  little  white  mica,  but  with  much 
black  schorl,  often  in  long  prismatic  crystals.  They  state  that  it  is  covered  by 
a  layer  of  gray  or  white  pebbles  of  quartz  containing  yrisolitas  (crysoberyl) 
of  a  greenish-white,  pale  ochre,  or  citron-yellow  color,  and  others  of  an  olive, 
grass,  or  blue-green  color  (Acjoas  marin/ias),  precious  garnets  and  white  and 
bright  blue  topazes.  (Vol.  II.  p.  502.) 


152  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL    GEOGRAPHY. 

same  luxuriant  look  as  that  of  the  Mucury,  and  resem 
bles  a  second  growth.  I  have  observed  immense  arbo 
rescent  cactuses  (Cereus^)  growing  in  the  woods  near 
Calhao.*  The  higher  lands  are  apt  to  be  dry,  though  the 
soil  would  otherwise  be  fertile,  and  during  the  dry  season 
the  trees  lose  their  leaves.  The  river-borders,  or  varzeas, 
are  very  productive.  Cotton  seems  to  be  the  principal  pro 
duct,  and  it  is  of  excellent  quality.  One  thousand  canoe- 
loads  were  sent  down  the  Jequitinhonha  to  the  sea  in  one 
year,  but  a  very  considerable  quantity  of  the  cotton  is  manu 
factured  at  home  into  coarse  cloths,  &c.  Large  quantities 
of  corn,  beans,  &c.  are  raised  here.  Calhao  is  a  village  of 
respectable  size,  situated  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Aras- 
suahy,  at  its  junction  with  the  Calhao,  which  is  so  small, 
and  ordinarily  so  shallow,  that  the  negrowomen  wade  across 
it  to  fill  their  water-jars  in  the  Arassuahy.  At  Calhao  the 
latter  river  is  about  the  size  of  the  Mucury  below  Santa 
Clara.  Calhao  derives  its  importance  from  being  a  sort 
of  centre  of  the  salt-trade  with  the  coast  via  the  Jequi 
tinhonha. 

At  the  point  where  the  path  from  Calhao  to  Minas  Novas 
crosses  the  Rio  Setubal  gray  quartzites  are  exposed,  with  a 
strike  of  N.  65°  E.,  dip  85°  southeastward.  At  the  passage 
of  the  Corrego  de  Sao  Joao  fine-grained  siliceous  gray 
schists  are  seen,  strike  N.  60J  E.,  dip  88°  to  90°  southeast 
ward  ;  and  at  the  passage  of  the  Sucuriu  the  same  rock  is 
seen,  and  an  observation  gave  strike  N.  60°  E.,  dip  80°  N. 

*  Saint  Hilaire  says  :  "  In  general  the  cactuses  in  the  province  of  Minas 
appear  to  belong  to  the  catingas  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Arassuahy  and 
Jequitinhonha,  for  I  have  not  met  with  a  single  species  either  in  the  Geraes, 
properly  so  called,  or  in  the  carrascos.  (Vol.  II.  Part  I.  p.  103.)  The  same 
author  calls  attention  to  the  number  of  Barrigudo  trees  (Bombax),  and  the 
absence  of  Melanostomaceous  plants  in  the  catingas. 


PROVINCE   OF   MINAS   GERAES.  153 

At  the  villa  of  Sucuriti  the  same  rock  is  seen,  strike  N. 
30°  E.,  dip  50°  S.  On  the  west  side  of  the  Corrego  de  Sao 
Joao  there  is  an  outlying  chapada,  the  southern  side  of  which 
presents  a  red  and  white  cliff,  in  which  are  exposed  horizon 
tal  white  beds,  which,  I  was  informed,  are  composed  of  ta- 
batinga,  or  clay  over  which  is  a  thick  bed  of  red  drift-earth, 
such  as  is  seen  everywhere  covering  the  country.  The  drift, 
as  well  as  the  sand  and  gravel  of  the  streams  in  the  vi 
cinity  of  Sucuriu,  contains  gold,  but  in  small  quantities.  I 
saw  a  few  old  abandoned  workings.  West  of  Sucuriu  the 
road  passes  over  a  chapada,  and  descends  into  the  valley  of 
the  Sucuriu,  which  is  bordered  by  high  slate  hills,  and  then 
ascends  to  a  chapada  which,  perfectly  level  and  covered  by 
carrasco,  extends  for  a  league  to  the  Rio  d'Agua  Suja.* 
This  chapada  is  precipitous  along  the  edges,  and  is  covered 
by  a  thick  bed  of  red  drift-clay,  under  which  appears  to  lie 
a  sheet  of  gravel,  which  in  some  places  is  cemented  by 
oxide  of  iron,  and  forms  a  conglomerate.  From  the  borders 
of  this  chapada  one  has  the  most  extended  views  of  the  sur 
rounding  country,  and  in  clear  weather  the  higher  points  of 
the  Serra  do  Grao  Mogor  are  distinctly  visible. 

The  valley  or  canon  of  the  Agua  Suja  in  some  places  cuts 
through  the  whole  chapada  formation  to  the  metamorphic 
rocks  below,  and  is  very  deep  and  narrow.  This  river  flows 
northward  into  the  Arassuahy.  After  crossing  a  narrow 

*  The  grass  and  bushes  of  the  campos  are  infested  by  the  carapato  (Ixodes 
ricinus],  a  wood-tick  which,  swept  off  by  contact  with  the  garments,  attaches 
itself  by  hundreds  to  the  skin,  and  can  only  be  detached  by  the  application  of 
tobacco  or  something  of  the  kind.  Strangers  are  apt  to  suffer  severely  from  the 
irritation  caused  by  these  disgusting  creatures.  Even  the  Jaboti  tortoise  is  at 
tacked  by  them.  When  allowed  to  remain,  the  animal  feeds  on  the  juices  of  its 
prey  until  its  body  becomes  as  large  as  a  castor-bean,  to  which  in  shape  and 
color  it  hears  a  close  resemblance. 
7* 


154  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

chapada  another  canon  is  reached,  that  of  the  Rio  d'Agua 
Limpa  or  Mae  d'Agua,  a  little  river  flowing  into  the  Agua 
Suja.*  The  banks  of  these  valleys  are  wooded,  and  possess 
a  fertile  soil.  At  the  ford  slates  of  ordinary  quality  are 
seen.  Strike  N.  50°  E.,  dip  70°  southeastward.  Between 
the  Capivary  and  Minas  Novas  the  country  is  very  hilly 
and  barren,  the  vegetation  being  of  the  character  of  the 
campos.  In  the  numerous  rain-gullies  in  the  mule-paths 
the  drift  is  cut  through,  and  decomposed  slates  are  ex 
posed.  They  are  as  soft  as  the  drift-clay,  and  were  it  not 
for  the  different  tints  of  the  laminae  and  the  quartz  veins 
which  traverse  them,  it  would  be  difficult  to  recognize  them 
as  a  metamorphic  rock  decomposed  in  situ.  The  Ribeirao 
do  Meio  is  a  brook  emptying  into  the  Capivary,  from  the 
sands  of  which  gold  has  been  obtained.  Spix  and  Mar- 
tius  have  left  us  the  following  graphic  picture  of  this  part 
of  the  country  :  — 

"  The  thick  wood  appeared  to  us  a  wide  grave,  for  the 
dry  season  had  stripped  off  all  ornament  of  leaves  and 
flowers ;  only  once  in  a  while  thorny  species  of  smilax,  or 
cord-like  twists  of  cissus,  set  with  single  leaves,  climbed  up, 
or  the  stately  flower-panicles  of  Bromelias  stretched  them 
selves  out  from  among  the  branches Thorny  acacias, 

many-branched  Andirce  and  Copaiferce,  and  fig-trees  rich  in 
milk,  appeared  here  in  exceeding  plenty  ;  but  what  most 
pleased  us  were  the  giant  stems  of  Chorisice  ( Chorisia  ven- 
tricosa),  which,  contracted  above  and  below,  were  swollen  in 
the  middle  like  huge  casks,  their  cork-like  bark  being  beset 
with  stout  shining  brown  spines.  Here  huge  bunches  of 
parasitic  plants  depended  from  the  branches.  Here  myriads 

*  I  give  the  names  on  the  authority  of  my  guide.  According  to  Gerber's 
map,  the  eastern  stream  is  the  Agua  Limpa,  the  other  Agua  Suja. 


PROVINCE   OF   MINAS   GERAES.  155 

of  ants  have  hung  from  the  branches  their  nests  full  of 
Daedalian  windings,  and  which,  with  a  circumference  of  sev 
eral  feet,  contrasted  strangely  in  their  black  color  with  the 
bright  gray  of  the  leafless  branches.  The  autumnal  torpid 
wood  echoed  with  the  cry  of  many  kinds  of  birds ;  especially 
croaking  araras  and  piriquitos.  Shy  armadillos  and  anteat- 
ers  {Dasypus  septemcinctus  and  Myrmicophaga  tetradactyla) 
met  us,  ....  and  sluggish  sloths  (Bradypus  tridactylus') 
hung  stupidly  from  the  white  branches  of  the  embauba 
(Cecropia  peltata),  which  here  and  there  rose  among  the 
rest  of  the  trees.  Herds  of  howling  monkeys  were  heard 
in  the  distance.  The  high  dry  grass  was  covered  with 
crowded  balls  of  little  carapatos,  which,  when  we  accident 
ally  disturbed  them,  scattered  themselves  with  lightning-like 
rapidity  over  us,  and  excited  a  painful  itching.  Not  infre 
quently  a  snake  was  heard  in  the  thicket  by  the  traveller 
riding  hastily  by."  * 

I  passed  through  this  same  region  in  the  wet  season, 
when  the  trees  were  all  in  leaf,  and  the  woods  looking 
gay  and  pleasant.  I  saw  scarcely  any  animals.  I  heard 
some  guaribas  howling ;  but  neither  armadillos,  sloths,  nor 
snakes  of  any  kind  were  seen.  It  is  a  very  mistaken  idea, 
carefully  spread  abroad  by  our  geographies  and  popular 
works  and  pictures,  that  one  may  everywhere  expect  to  see 
in  the  Brazilian  forests  great  boas  wreathed  about  the  trees, 
and  all  manner  of  birds  and  beasts  in  profusion.  I  have 
ridden  day  after  day  through  the  virgin  forest  without  seeing 
or  hearing  anything  worth  shooting,  and  nothing  more  dan 
gerous  than  a  wasp  ! 

In  the  year  1727  Sebastiao  Leme  do  Prado,  with  a  band 
of  Paulistas,  travelling  northward  through  the  province  of 

*  Spix  and  Martins,  Reise,  Vol.  II.  pp.  499,  500. 


156  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL    GEOGRAPHY. 

Minas,  discovered  gold  in  the  river  Bom  Successo,  and  gave 
it  the  name  which  it  bears  He  established  here  regular 
mining  operations,  and  founded  the  city  now  known  as  Minas 
Novas,  which  grew  to  be  a  flourishing  town.  The  precious 
metal  was  also  discovered  elsewhere  in  the  vicinity,  and  in 
especial  abundance  on  the  hills  bordering  the  Rio  Capivary 
near  the  Arraial  da  Chapada,  where  it  was  very  exten 
sively  mined.  The  gold  was  principally  obtained  from  the 
sands  and  gravel  of  the  river,  and  from  the  gravel  sheet 
underlying  the  drift-clays  on  the  slopes  and  tops  of  the 
hills.  Very  little  gold  was  extracted  from  the  veins  of  the 
quartz,  some  of  which  were  known  to  be  richly  auriferous. 
The  hills  are  dry,  and  water  is  to  be  found  only  in  the 
rivers,  which  during  the  greater  part  of  the  year  aiford  a 
good  supply,  so  that  the  washing  of  the  gravels  on  the 
high  grounds  was  attended  with  much  difficulty.  Ditches, 
or  reg-as,  were  dug  round  the  hills  to  collect  rain-water, 
which  was  brought  into  tanks,  and  in  some  of  the  washings 
all  the  water  used  was  derived  from  this  source  ;  and  at 
Minas  Novas  and  Chapada,  washings  said  to  be  rich  were 
pointed  out  to  me  as  abandoned  because  of  the  scarcity  of 
water,  when  just  below,  a  hundred  feet  or  more,  tumbled  a 
dashing  stream.  Notwithstanding  the  disadvantages  under 
which  these  old  miners  labored,  a  large  extent  of  ground 
was,  as  we  shall  see,  worked  over,  and  an  immense  quantity 
of  gold  was  extracted,  according  to  one  authority  300  arrobas 
(=9,600  Ibs.  avoirdupois)  being  sent  to  Bahia  alone.  Many 
large  nuggets  were  discovered  in  these  mines.  In  the  Lavra 
do  Batatal  a  lump  weighing  28  Ibs.  was  found.  In  1746  dia 
monds  were  discovered  in  the  vicinity  of  Diamantina,  and 
government  prohibited  the  extraction  of  gold  in  order  to 
encourage  the  search  for  diamonds.  This  prohibition  put  a 


PROVINCE   OF  MINAS   GERAES.  157 

stop  to  the  gold-mining  of  Minas  Novas,*  and,  though  the 
prohibition  has  been  removed,  the  blow  has  been  fatal,  for 
little  gold-mining  has  since  been  carried  on,  and  the  present 
inhabitants  content  themselves  with  agricultural  pursuits, 
or  help  to  swell  the  number  of  miners  who  wash  for  dia 
monds  on  the  Rio  Jequitinhonha.  The  gold-mines  are 
to-day  practically  abandoned,  but  the  idea  that  they  were 
worked  out  is  very  erroneous.  At  Minas  Novas  and  Cha- 
pada  the  rocks  are  slates  and  quartzites,  and  resemble  very 
closely  those  of  the  gold  region  of  Nova  Scotia.  Indeed,  it 
was  the  strong  resemblance  borne  by  the  slates  of  Calhao 
and  the  vicinity  to  the  Nova  Scotian  gold-bearing  rocks 
that  aroused  my  interest,  and  led  me  to  turn  out  of  my 
way  to  visit  Minas  Novas.  These  rocks  evidently  overlie 
the  mica  slates  which  flank  the  gneiss  of  the  coast  belt, 
and  I  believe  they  will  prove  to  be  Lower  Silurian  in  age.f 
At  Minas  Novas  their  strike  is  N.  42°  to  50°  E.,  and  their 
dip  is  vertical.  They  are  traversed  by  great  numbers  of 
milky-quartz  veins,  some  of  which  are  well  known  to  be 
auriferous.  Some  of  these  veins  are  of  considerable  dimen 
sions.  In  an  enormous  gully  cut  out  by  the  surface  waters 
in  the  hillside  above  the  cemetery  on  the  Bom  Successo  at 
Minas  Novas  are  several  fine  veins  of  corrugated  quartz.  J 
These  veins  run  nearly  vertically  through  the  rock,  and  may 
be  beds  instead  of  veins.  As  they  are  exposed  in  the  cliff 
they  present  the  appearance  of  vertical  fissures,  in  which 
cylindrical  masses  of  quartz  are  piled  in  a  single  row,  their 

*  The  city  is  in  decay,  and  is  to-day  of  very  little  importance.  The  cotton 
raised  in  its  vicinity  has  a  very  excellent  reputation  in  Brazil ;  similar  lands 
in  Bahia  and  Pernambuco  produce  a  good  quality  of  cotton. 

t  Perhaps  Quebec  group. 

J  These  appear  to  have  precisely  the  same  structure  as  the  "  Barrel  quartz" 
of  Nova  Scotia. 


158  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL    GEOGRAPHY. 

ends  projecting  like  logs.  Some  of  these  cylinders  of  quartz 
are  two  feet  in  diameter.  In  section  they  appear  as  repre 
sented  by  the  accompanying  woodcut.  I  spent  some  time 
in  an  examination  of  this  vein  for  gold, 
but  could  detect  none.  The  large  size  of 
the  quartz  veins  of  the  vicinity  may  be  in 
ferred  from  the  dimensions  of  the  quartz 
boulders  scattered  over  the  surface,  some 
of  which  weigh  many  tons.  I  am  not  aware 
that  any  auriferous  vein  has  been  worked 
at  or  near  Minas  Novas,  but  at  the  Arraial 
da  Chapada  several  were  anciently  more  or 
less  worked.  A  rich  vein,  according  to  universal  testimony, 
crosses  the  praga,  and  it  is  well  known  that  one  miner  fol 
lowed  it  in  secret  until  he  undermined  his  neighbor's  house, 
when  his  secret  was  let  out.  There  one  hears  the  terms 
"  vein  "  and  "  gravel "  gold,  and  I  saw  many  beautiful  spe 
cimens  of  crystallized  gold  in  the  hands  of  the  inhabitants, 
some  of  which  were  taken  directly  from  quartz  veins,  though 
it  is  true  others  were  obtained  from  quartz  boulders.  There 
can  be  no  doubt  that  rich  auriferous  lodes  exist  in  the  neigh 
borhood,  which  have  never  been  explored,  and  which  one  day 
must  be  developed,  for  all  the  gold  which  so  richly  abounds  in 
the  drift  must  have  come  from  the  underlying  rocks.*  In  the 
Minas  Novas  region  I  have  seen  no  signs  of  gneissosc  rocks, 
itacolumite,  or  itabarite  associated  with  the  auriferous  slates. 
The  slates,  <fec.,  of  the  valley  of  the  Jequitinhonha  are 
decomposed  to  a  great  depth,  and  are  as  soft  as  earth,  and 
can  be  easily  worked  with  a  spade.  This  decomposed  rock, 
which  is  of  a  bright  red  color,  preserves  its  lamination,  and 
the  quartz  veins  traverse  it  as  in  the  solid  rock.  Excellent 

*  For  an  account  of  the  gold-mines  of  other  parts  of  Brazil,  see  further  on. 


PROVINCE   OF   MINAS   GERAES.  159 

opportunities  for  the  examination  of  it  are  afforded  at  Minas 
Novas  and  elsewhere  by  the  enormous  gullies  swept  out  in 
it  on  the  hillsides  by  the  mountain  torrents.  Some  of  these 
gullies  are  more  than  100  feet  deep,  and  show  at  the  same 
time  the  very  finest  sections  of  the  drift.  Near  the  Arraial 
da  Chapada  the  bright  red  cliffs  of  these  ravines  are  very 
conspicuous  elements  in  the  landscape,  and  some  parts  of 
the  country  appear  as  if  scored  by  a  giant  plough.  Burton 
describes  similar  gullies  in  other  parts  of  Minas  and  in  Sao 
Paulo.  In  the  latter  country  they  have  received  the  name 
of  vossorocas.  Burton  supposes  they  were  formed  by  the 
giving  way  of  a  hillside  under  the  hydrostatic  pressure 
caused  by  the  soaking  of  the  mass  by  water  ;  and  he  says 
that  the  ground  breaks  away  suddenly  with  the  force  of  an 
eruption,  the  hollow  in  the  hillside  thus  formed  being  after 
ward  excavated  to  a  greater  size  and  depth  by  rains  and 
streams,  which  sometimes  gush  out  of  the  head  of  these 
gullies.  The  gullies  which  I  saw  did  not  strike  me  as 
having  been  formed  in  this  way.  I  supposed  that  they  had 
been  hollowed  out  with  more  or  less  rapidity  by  the  ac 
tion  of  surface  water,  perhaps  aided  by  springs,  and  with 
out  a  regular  land-slide.  The  surface  of  the  undisturbed 
decomposed  rock  is  always  well  marked,  and  has  a  regu 
larly  rounded  contour  like  that  of  the  gneiss,  and  is  never 
irregular  and  jagged  like  a  water- worn  surface.  The  de 
composed  rock  is  immediately  overlaid  by  a  sheet  of  cas- 
calho,  or  quartz  pebbles,  whose  thickness  varies  from  a  few 
inches  to  eight  or  more  feet.  The  pebbles  are  of  all  sizes, 
and  are  more  or  less  rounded.  I  observed  in  several 
localities  that  there  were  large  boulders  lying  in  this  gravel 
just  above  the  rock.  The  cascalho  is  often  so  cemented 
by  ferric  oxide  as  to  form  a  conglomerate,  which  requires 


160  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

to  be  broken  up  before  it  is  washed  for  gold.  Like  the 
drift  pebble  sheet  of  the  coast,  it  forms  a  concentric  layer 
wrapped  over  the  whole  rock  surface  of  the  hills,  and  it 
is  found  lying  on  very  high  slopes  and  piled  up  in  masses 
such  as  water  never  deposits. 

It  is  in  the  cascalho  that  the  greater  part  of  the  gold 
of  Minas  Novas  and  vicinity  occurs.  Over  this  gravel  lies 
a  mass  of  red  drift-clay,  varying  very  much  in  thickness, 
from  a  few  inches  to  fifty  feet  or  more.  This  is,  like  the 
drift-clays  of  the  coast,  a  homogeneous  mass,  through  which 
are  scattered  from  time  to  time  angular  and  rounded  quartz 
boulders  of  large  size.  Over  large  tracts  between  Minas 
Novas  and  the  Arraial  da  Chapada  this  sheet  of  clay  is  so 
thin  that  the  cascalho  bed  lies  on  the  surface,  and  the 
country  is  consequently  stony  and  barren.  The  clay  con 
tains  sometimes  more  or  less  gold.  It  is,  however,  to  the 
cascalho  sheets  that  the  search  for  the  precious  metal  has 
been  principally  confined.  The  gold  occurs  disseminated 
through  the  gravel  in  flattened  grains,  and  occasional  nug 
gets  of  considerable  size,  which  are  always  in  a  crushed  and 
battered  state.  The  process  of  extraction  was  similar  to 
that  described  by  Mawe  as  employed  at  the  mines  of  Jara- 
gud  in  Sao  Paulo,  and  which  I  shall  further  unfold  in  the 
description  of  that  province.  It  consisted  in  stripping  off 
the  clay  sheet  down  to  the  gravel,  which  was  broken  up  and 
washed  on  the  spot  in  rude  trenches  to  separate  the  peb 
bles,  when  the  auriferous  mud  and  sand  were  washed  in 
the  bateia,  or  wooden  washing-pan.  A  great  number  of 
the  washings  were  situated  on  the  tops  of  hills,  or  slopes 
at  some  height  above  the  water  of  the  stream,  and  in  these 
cases  the  washing  was  performed  through  the  aid  of  rain 
water.  In  several  localities  water  was  conducted  to  the  wash- 


PROVINCE   OF   MINAS   GERAES.  161 

ings  from  streams.  Some  of  the  old  regas,  or  ditches,  are 
still  visible  running  for  miles  around  the  hills.  The  supply 
of  rain-water  was  of  course  sufficient  only  during  the  rainy 
season,  so  that  washing  operations  had  to  be  suspended  for 
the  rest  of  the  year.  In  the  old  washings,  as  in  that  above 
the  cemetery  at  Minas  Novas,  or  the  Lavra  da  Santa  Cruz, 
at  the  junction  of  the  Rios  Fanado  and  Bom  Successo,  the 
gravel  lies  in  great  piles.  At  the  Arraial  da  Chapada  the 
same  thing  is  seen,  but  there  the  whole  tops  of  hills  have 
been  deprived  of  their  clay  coating  and  washed  over,  so  that 
to-day  they  are  hoary  with  the  quartz  boulders  that  remain, 
the  testimony  of  a  departed  industry.  I  was  informed  that 
the  custom  was  with  the  miners,  as  a  general  thing,  to  wash 
the  gravel  on  the  spot.  It  seems  wonderful  that  when  the 
washing  was  near  a  river  or  stream  the  gravel  was  not  sent 
down  to  this  stream  to  be  washed.  To-day  the  washings, 
though  owned  by  private  individuals,  who  to  some  extent 
know  their  value,  are  unworked,  the  owners  finding  it  more 
profitable  to  pursue  agriculture  or  wash  for  diamonds  in 
the  Jequitinhonha.  The  abundance  of  gold  over  this  region 
may  be  seen  from  the  nuggets  in  the  possession  of  the  peo 
ple,  and  which  have  been  picked  up  on  the  hillsides  or  in 
rain-gullies.  After  rains  one  sees  in  the  ravines  the  prints 
of  the  feet  of  those  who  regularly  go  in  search  of  gold 
washed  out  by  the  surface  waters,  and  in  the  streets  of 
Minas  Novas  and  Chapada  little  dams  are  built  across  the 
small  rain-gullies  by  the  children,  to  collect  water  to  wash 
the  soil  for  gold,  which  they  collect  in  quills,  and  larger 
dams  are  built  by  the  elder  members  of  the  population 
for  the  same  purpose.  No  one  who  has  been  over  the 
ground  as  I  have,  and  has  seen  the  irregular  way  in 
which  the  mining  has  been  performed,  and  the  immense 


162  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

area  of  drift  which  has  yet  been  untouched,  —  drift  rich  in 
gold,  as  the  occasional  recent  washings  testify,  —  can  doubt 
that  the  region  is  far  from  exhausted.  It  has  only  been 
forgotten.  My  friend  Mr.  J.  S.  Mills,  of  New  York,  an 
excellent  geologist,  who  has  discussed  these  observations 
with  me,  has  suggested  that  the  gold  probably  occurs  in 
bands  in  the  drift,  the  direction  of  which  might  be  worked 
out  by  a  careful  topographical  survey.  Senator  Theophilo 
Benedicto  Ottoni,  of  Rio,  about  two  years  ago  obtained  from 
the  Emperor  a  concession  of  the  area  of  the  Comarca  of  the 
Jequitinhonha,  to  explore  it  for  gold  and  other  minerals ; 
and  an  attempt,  which  we  hope  may  yet  be  successful,  has 
been  made  to  organize  an  American  company  for  the  pur 
pose  of  thoroughly  exploring  and  developing  the  gold-fields 
of  Minas  Novas  and  vicinity.  With  modern  mining  meth 
ods  and  appliances  I  have  the  fullest  confidence  that  they 
would  prove  very  remunerative.  The  system  of  washing  by 
hose-pipes  could  be  employed  successfully  in  many  local 
ities. 

Gold  also  occurs  in  the  gravel  and  sands  of  the  streams, 
these  loose  materials  being  derived  in  part  from  the  drift, 
in  part  from  the  decomposed  rock.  Near  the  Arraial  da 
Chapada  is  an  outlier  of  the  tertiary  called  the  Serra  do 
Macaco,  which  forms  a  very  picturesque  flat-topped  moun 
tain,  with  escarped  sides,  in  which  the  horizontal  layers  of 
red  and  white  clays  are  beautifully  exhibited. 

Now  that  we  know  that  gold  may  occur  in  any  formation, 
why  may  not  the  lower  beds  of  this  series  be  found  to  be 
auriferous  in  some  places  ? 

I  have  had  no  opportunity  of  making  an  examination  of 
the  gold  of  the  Minas  Novas  region,  and  I  know  of  no 
analyses  ever  having  been  made  of  it. 


PROVINCE   OF  MINAS   GERAES.  163 

The  sands  of  the  Arassuahy  above  the  Rio  Setubal,  or 
thereabouts,  are  rich  in  gold.  I  have  never  heard  of  their 
affording  diamonds. 

From  Calhao  I  took  passage  in  a  canoe,  and  descended  to 
the  sea.  On  that  voyage  the  following  observations  were 
made  on  the  rivers  Arassuahy  and  Jequitinhonha. 

At  Calhao  the  Arassuahy  is  about  as  large  as  the  Sao 
Matheos.  Its  current  is  strong,  and  even  during  the  dry 
season  it  contains  much  water.  The  country  on  both  sides 
of  the  river  below  Calhao  is,  generally  speaking,  low  and 
uneven  up  to  the  foot  of  the  chapadas,  while  varg-ens,  more 
or  less  wide,  border  the  stream.  These  consist  of  alluvial 
deposits,  and  afford  a  rich  soil.  Their  height  above  the  av 
erage  level  of  the  river  is  about  twenty  feet.  From  Calha'o 
to  the  mouth  of  the  river  the  country  is  sparsely  settled. 
The  river-bed  is  much  obstructed  by  ledges  of  slate,  but  there 
are  no  rapids,  and  canoe  navigation  is  not  very  difficult. 
At  the  Pontal,  at  the  mouth  of  the  river,  these  slates  appear, 
from  the  canoe,  to  lie  very  flat,  and  to  be  traversed  by  heavy 
veins  of  a  crystalline  rock,  like  granite,  the  outcrop  of  one  of 
which  crosses  just  above  the  Pontal.  At  this  place,  in  the 
angle  between  the  two  rivers,  is  a  little  settlement,  which 
the  inhabitants  hope  may  one  day  rival  Calhao  in  its  com 
merce  in  salt. 

The  traveller  who  has  heard  the  Jequitinhonha  constantly 
spoken  of  by  the  Mineiros  as  a  "  majestoso  rio"  feels  much 
disappointed  when  he  reaches  it  at  its  junction  with  the 
Arassuahy,  for  it  is  but  little  larger  than  the  latter  river. 
It  is,  however,  much  deeper. 

Above  the  Arassuahy  the  Jequitinhonha  flows  in  a  wide 
canon,  separated  from  the  valley  of  the  Arassuahy  by  a 
long,  narrow  chapada,  which  extends  from  the  western 


164  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

limits  of  the  chapada  formation  well  down  into  the  angle 
formed  by  the  union  of  the  two  rivers.  The  chapada 
forming  the  eastern  boundary  of  the  valley  of  the  Calhao 
comes  down  into  the  corresponding  angle  on  the  other 
side  of  the  Arassuahy,  so  that  that  river  really  escapes  into 
the  canon  of  the  Jequitinhonha  through  a  cut  across  the 
chapadas.  Below  the  mouth  of  the  Calhao  the  river  valley, 
comprised  between  the  chapadas,  is  quite  wide,  uneven,  and 
composed  of  mica  slate,  gneiss,  <fec.  Some  six  or  eight 
miles  down  the  river  there  is  a  high  hill,  the  Morro  do 
Ariao,  which  presents  the  smooth,  black-stained,  even  rock 
surface  so  characteristic  of  the  gneiss  hills  of  the  coast. 

Fifteen  or  twenty  miles  below  the  Calhao  the  little  river 
Piauhy  enters  the  main  river  from  the  south.  This  stream 
takes  its  rise  in  the  Serra  do  Chifre,  a  short  distance  to  the 
north  of  the  source  of  the  Calhao,  from  which  river  it  is 
separated  by  a  strip  of  chapada  called  the  Chapada  do 
Piauhy,  on  the  plains  of  which  herds  of  cattle  are  pastured. 
The  Piauhy  is  noted  for  its  affording  grisolitas  (peridote  or 
chrysoberyl) ,  pingoas  d'agua  (white  topaz  or  limpid  quartz 
pebbles),  and  other  valuable  stones,  like  those  found  in  the 
Rio  das  Americanas  in  the  Mucury.  The  chrysoberyls  are 
used  in  jewelry  and  by  watchmakers,  and  at  the  time  of  my 
visit  to  Minas  were  selling  for  11  $  000  per  pound,  or  about 
$  5.50  American  currency.  The  demand  of  late  years  for 
them  has  been  very  small.  A  few  years  ago,  according  to 
Senator  Ottoni,  several  hundred-weight  were  extracted  and 
exported,  which  drugged  the  market,  and  made  it  for  a  long 
time  unprofitable  to  wash  for  them. 

Two  miles  below  the  Barra  do  Piauhy,  the  mica  slates  dip 
to  the  N.  45°  W.,  and  at  the  Ilha  do  Cubango  there  are 
heavy  vertical  veins  of  granite,  which  extend  in  walls  almost 


PROVINCE   OF   MINAS   GEEAES.  165 

across  the  river,  while,  a  couple  of  miles  farther  down,  there 
are  some  high  gneiss  or  mica-slate  hills.  The  river  is  full 
of  rocks,  and  the  banks  are  rocky,  though  the  banks  of  the 
river  are  generally  low.  At  the  Arraial  d'ltinga  the  mica 
slates  still  show  themselves,  with  a  strike  of  N.  45°  E.,  and 
vertical  dip,  and  are  traversed  by  granite  veins. 

The  Arraial  is  a  considerable  little  town,  built  on  a  ridge 
of  quartz  gravel  bordering  the  river  on  the  northern  side, 
and  which,  being  considerably  higher  than  the  river  border, 
itself  about  twenty  feet  high,  is  not  covered  during  the 
enchente.  It  derives  its  importance  from  its  trade  in  salt, 
which  is  brought  up  the  river  from  the  sea,  and  is  sent  into 
the  interior  to  the  Sertao  do  Rio  Pardo,  together  with  mer 
chandise,  <fec.  On  both  sides,  but  at  a  considerable  dis 
tance,  the  chapadas  skirt  the  river,  but  they  are  rarely  seen 
by  the  voyager  by  canoe,  because  of  the  intervening  gneiss 
hills,  which  are  sometimes  500  to  800  feet  in  height  above 
the  level  of  the  river.  Just  below  Itinga  one  has  a  distinct 
view  of  a  chapada  on  the  south  side  of  the  river,  and  in  the 
cliffs  at  its  top  the  characteristic  white  rock  is  seen.  The 
height  of  the  chapada  top  above  the  level  of  the  river  must 
be  over  1,000  feet. 

The  rocks  exposed  in  the  river-banks  between  Itinga  and 
the  "  Estreito  "  are  gneiss,  a  compact  variety.  The  hills  have 
the  ordinary  topography  of  the  gneiss  regions  of  the  coast, 
and  often  present  bare,  blackened  cliffs  and  slopes.  Back  of 
the  hills  the  flat  tops  of  the  chapadas  are  seen,  and  occasion 
ally  they  accompany  the  river.  The  slopes  of  the  chapadas 
invariably  show  gneiss  almost  to  the  top,  where  there  are 
usually  lines  of  white  cliffs.  The  thick  red  bed  at  the  top 
of  the  chapadas  of  Minas  Novas  I  have  not  observed  here, 
nor  is  it  to  be  seen  in  the  cliffs  of  the  chapadas  at  the  June- 


166  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

tion  between  the  Arassuahy  and  Jequitinhonlia.  The  hills 
and  chapada  slopes  are  thickly  wooded,  but  the  trees  are  all 
small.  A  small  species  of  Barrigudo  (Imbare',  Bombax,  or 
Chorisia).,  with  an  enormously  swollen  trunk,  is  very  abun 
dant  on  the  margin  of  the  river.  The  course  of  the  river  is 
rapid,  and  its  breadth  is  about  equal  to  that  of  the  Parahyba 
do  Sul  at  Sao  Fidelis.  At  the  "  Estreito  "  the  river  passes 
through  a  narrow  gorge  across  a  gneiss  ridge.  This  chasm 
is  in  some  places  not  more  than  150  feet  wide,  and  is  a  most 
romantic  spot.  The  sides  are  bold,  rounded  masses  of  rock 
piled  up  one  upon  the  other  in  picturesque  confusion. 

When  the  river  is  swollen,  the  "Estreito"  is  a  fearful 
place  to  pass  ;  the  waters  rush  through  with  great  fury,  and 
below  it  are  dangerous  whirlpools,  where  canoes  are  frequent 
ly  lost.  Between  the  "  Estreito "  and  the  Pedra  do  Bode 
the  river-banks  are  low  and  flat,  and  the  country  behind 
is  often  marshy  and  interspersed  with  shallow  lagoons.  In 
one  of  these  I  found  an  abundance  of  Ampullarias,  but  I 
could  find  no  other  shells.  The  Pedra  do  Bode,  one  of  the 
noted  landmarks  on  the  river,  is  a  gneiss  hill  on  the  north 
bank,  presenting  a  smooth  precipitous  face  to  the  river.  It 
is  of  some  considerable  altitude,  but  is  not  so  high  as  the 
chapada  behind  it.  Thence  to  Sao  Miguel  the  river  is 
bordered  by  gneiss  hills  and  chapada  spurs,  and  back  of 
these,  on  both  sides  of  the  river,  are  seen  the  level  tops 
of  the  chapadas  which  accompany  the  river.  The  hills 
are  often  very  abrupt,  and  present  many  bare  surfaces. 
Some,  which  may  not  be  wholly  composed  of  gneiss, 
are  very  regular  in  their  curves,  and  have  steep  slopes 
covered  with  a  low  vegetation.  The  Indai4  palm  is  very 
common  on  some  of  the  hills,  going  to  make  up  the 
greater  part  of  some  of  the  woods.  A  short  distance  above 


PROVINCE   OF   MINAS   GERAES.  167 

Sao  Miguel  is  the  Caxoeira  do  Labyrintho,  a  series  of  rapids 
extending  for  more  than  a  mile.  In  some  states  of  the 
river  these  rapids  are  very  dangerous,  owing  to  the  incli 
nation  of  the  river-bed  and  the  numerous  rocks  which 
obstruct  the  river,  and  canoes  are  wrecked  and  lives  lost 
here  almost  every  year.  In  descending,  the  proeiros,  or 
oarsmen  of  the  prow,  row  vigorously  to  give  the  canoe 
a  good  headway,  so  that  it  may  obey  the  steering-oar, 
which  must  be  handled  very  dexterously.  Sao  Miguel  is 
a  miserable  hamlet  on  the  right  bank  of  the  river  at  the 
mouth  of  the  river  Sao  Miguel,  which  takes  its  rise  in 
the  same  serra  with  the  Rio  das  Americanas.  It  is  impor 
tant  principally  because  of  its  commerce  in  salt.  There 
are  some  large  fazendas  in  the  vicinity  on  both  sides  of 
the  river,  on  which  very  large  herds  of  cattle  are  raised. 
There  are  said  to  be  some  fertile  lands  here.  Below  Sao 
Miguel  is  the  Caxoeira  de  Dorma,  a  series  of  rapids  usually 
easily  passed.  On  the  right  bank  of  the  river,  and  some  two 
or  three  miles  below  Sao  Miguel,  is  a  range  of  irregular  gneiss 
hills,  which  have  apparently  a  general  north-south  trend, 
and  present  a  precipitous  front  to  the  west.  A  small  stream 
springs  from  the  top  of  one  of  these  precipices,  and  hangs 
a  white  thread  of  water  against  the  black  wall  of  rock. 
Irregular  gneiss  hills  occupy  the  right  bank  of  the  river  for 
some  four  and  a  half  leagues.  On  the  left  bank  the  great 
chapada  stretches  along,  its  sides  descending  with  rounded, 
smooth  slopes,  often  destitute  of  forest  and  green  with  low 
herbage.  The  stream  here  is  full  of  rapids  with  a  strong 
current,  and  is  about  500  feet  wide.  The  scenery  on  this 
portion  of  the  river  is  exceedingly  grand.  Just  above  the 
valley  of  Sao  Simao  is  a  little  village  called  Farrancho,  in 
habited  by  civilized  Machacalis.  Below  this  the  chapada 


168  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

slopes  advance  to  the  river-side  and  border  it  for  a  league 
or  more,  forming  the  narrow  valley  of  Sao  Simao.  The 
chapadas  are  of  great  elevation, — 1,200  feet  or  more  above 
the  river ;  their  sides  descend  with  steep,  smooth  slopes  to 
the  river.  The  lower  part  of  the  slopes  is  thickly  wooded, 
but  toward  the  top  the  vegetation  generally  becomes  low 
and  scrubby ;  in  some  parts,  however,  they  are  wooded  to 
the  top. 

The  regularity  of  the  slopes  would  justify  one  in  assign 
ing  to  the  chapada  formation  here  a  great  thickness.  At 
the  entrance  of  the  valley  a  very  siliceous  gneiss  is  seen 
underlying  the  chapada.  Leaving  Sao  Simao  the  chapadas 
recede  from  the  river,  and  the  country  thence  to  the  Salto 
Grande  is  gneiss.  Immediately  below  Sao  Simao  are  pic 
turesque  groups  of  hills,  —  the  Serra  da  Vigia  on  the  right, 
and  the  Serra  das  Panellas  on  the  left,  —  and  below  these 
are  the  rapids  of  the  Panellas.  In  descending  we  pass  the 
Serra  do  Feijoal  on  the  left,  and  other  hills  on  both  sides 
of  the  river,  shoot  the  Caxoeira  do  Angelim,  the  Caxoeira 
da  Farinha,  and  other  rapids,  and  reach  the  eastern  extrem 
ity  of  the  fine  Serra  da  Lua  Cheia,  which,  coming  from  the 
southwest,  breaks  down  near  the  river.  Between  the  hills 
of  the  Feijoal  and  the  Serra  da  Lua  Cheia,  the  lands  border 
ing  the  river  are  generally  flat  and  low,  so  low  that  they  are 
easily  flooded  by  the  enchente.  The  soils  of  these  low 
lands,  or  vargens,  are  in  general  composed  of  a  fine  sand 
with  but  little  admixture  of  clay.  They  appear  to  be  very 
fertile,  as  the  vegetation  they  support  is  very  luxuriant. 
These  flat  lands  are  full  of  swamps  and  shallow  lagoons,  which 
are  flooded  during  the  enchente,  and  are  left  full  of  water 
when  the  freshet  subsides.  This  water  sometimes  becomes 
putrid,  from  the  decay  of  the  vegetables  abounding  in  the 


PROVINCE   OF  MINAS   GERAES.  169 

swamps,  and  fills  the  air  with  miasma,  while  the  water  en 
tering  the  river  poisons  it.  It  was  in  the  beginning  of  May 
that  I  descended  the  river.  Between  Sao  Miguel,  sezoes,  or 
fever  and  ague,  were  exceedingly  prevalent,  and  I  left  all 
my  canoe-men  sick  at  Salto  Grande.  There  was  scarcely  a 
house  on  the  river  where  there  were  not  cases  of  fever,  and 
canoes  on  the  up  voyage  were  delayed  at  the  Salto  and 
elsewhere  along  the  route  because  of  the  sickness  of  the 
crews.  This  general  prevalence  of  fever  among  the  canoe- 
men  is  principally  attributable  to  their  exceeding  impru 
dence.  They  drink  freely  of  the  Avarm  muddy  river-water 
when  overheated.  They  bathe  in  it  under  the  hot  sun,  and 
go  with  dripping  garments  a  great  part  of  the  time,  spend 
ing  frequently  night  after  night  under  drenching  rains  with 
no  other  shelter  than  a  woollen  blanket.  I  had  risen  from 
a  sick-bed  to  make  the  voyage,  and  was  constantly  exposed 
to  the  rain  and  cold  ;  but  I  avoided  the  river-water,  and  es 
caped,  as  did  my  fellow-traveller,  a  merchant  from  Calhao.* 

The  hills  comprising  the  Serra  da  Lua  Cheia  are  of  con 
siderable  altitude,  much  broken  up  and  very  irregular  in 
outline.  In  this  serra  are  several  conspicuous  needles  visible 
from  a  long  distance,  two  of  which  are  named  respectively 
the  Enchadao  and  Enchadinho.  From  this  serra  to  the 
dangerous  Caxoeira  de  Santa  Anna,  formerly  called  the 
Caxoeira  do  Inferno,  the  river  is  very  rapid,  full  of  islands, 
and  there  are  some  places  difficult  to  pass. 

The  Caxoeira  de  Santa  Anna  is  at  all  times  so  dangerous 
that  the  cargo  is  always  carried  round  the  rapids,  and  re- 
embarked  below,  the  canoe  descending  empty.  At  the  head 

*  I  cannot  let  pass  this  opportunity  of  acknowledging  the  kindness  of  this 
gentleman,  Scnhor  Baretto,  a  mulatto,  who  gave  me  my  passage  to  the  Salto 
from  Calhao,  and  was  of  the  greatest  service  to  me. 
VOL.  i.  '  8 


170  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

of  the  rapids,  which  extend  for  nearly  a  mile,  is  a  large  isl 
and.  Both  channels  are  practicable  in  some  states  of  the 
river,  but  with  low  water  the  northern  is  the  only  safe  one. 
The  Caxoeira  consists  not  only  of  a  series  of  rapids,  but  also 
of  several  bancos,  or  low  cascades.  Canoes  constantly  de 
scend,  —  a  most  exciting  feat.  The  ascent  is  accomplished 
only  with  the  empty  canoe  and  with  great  difficulty.  Between 
this  Caxoeira  and  the  Salto  Grande  the  river  is  very  swift, 
full  of  rapids,  and  obstructed  by  rocks,  while  in  some  places 
it  is  very  narrow,  and  bordered  by  a  wide  margin  of  rocks 
covered  by  the  annual  floods.  Islands  are  numerous.  At 
the  town  of  Salto  Grande,  a  wretched  little  place,  on  the 
right  bank,  a  quarter  of  a  mile  above  the  Salto,  or  falls, 
and  celebrated  for  its  trade  in  salt,  &c.,  the  river  is  only 
eighty  to  one  hundred  feet  in  width,  but  on  each  side  are 
low  margins  of  bare  gneiss  *  rock  and  sand-banks. 

At  the  Salto  the  river  reaches  a  point  whence,  within  the 
distance  of  a  mile  or  thereabouts,  it  descends  some  three 
hundred  feet,  more  or  less,f  in  a  splendid  series  of  cascades 
and  rapids.  At  the  head  of  the  Caxoeira,  when  the  river  is 
not  swollen,  it  is  suddenly  narrowed  to  forty  or  fifty  feet, 
and  plunges  down  a  very  steep  incline  into  a  gorge  with 
perpendicular  banks,  making  a  wild  and  most  romantic  fall 
of  about  fifty  feet.  Below  this  are  other  falls,  which,  owing 
to  the  state  of  the  weather,  I  was  unable  to  visit.  On  each 
side  of  the  rapids  is  a  wide  strip  of  rocky  ledges,  swept  bare. 
When  the  enchente  prevails,  the  stream  swells  too  big  for 
its  channel,  and  pours  in  a  terrible  flood  over  the  rocks 

*  This  gneiss  is  composed  of  feldspar,  quartz,  and  hornblende,  and  is  well 
bedded.  Strike,  N.  30D  W.,  dip  vertical  at  the  upper  Porto  do  Salto. 

t  I  am  entirely  unable,  from  the  character  of  the  country,  to  form  a  very  re 
liable  estimate  of  the  total  height  of  these  falls,  but  I  believe  that  300  feet  is 
much  within  the  truth. 


PROVINCE   OF  MINAS   GERAES.  171 

on  each  side,  making  a  series  of  rapids  to  which  those  of 
Niagara  are  as  nothing.  The  Salto  Grande,  during  the 
floods,  must  be  a  sight  worth  a  pilgrimage  to  see.  The 
Diccionario  Geografico  says  that  the  fall  is  twenty  bracas 
in  height,  and  that  the  noise  of  the  waters  may  be  heard  at 
a  distance  of  four  leagues,  which  is  not  very  correct.  The 
Salto  consists  of  several  falls  and  rapids,  as  above  described. 
The  Caxoeira  is  of  course  an  effectual  barrier  to  navigation, 
commerce  requiring  a  transport  of  goods  by  mules  around 
it,  which  have  to  be  re-embarked  above  or  below  the  falls. 
On  the  road  from  the  village  to  the  port  below  the  coun 
try  is  seen  to  be  covered  as  usual  with  drift-clay,  in  which 
are  large  boulders  of  the  hornblendic  gneiss,  together  with 
rounded  and  angular  fragments  of  quartz.  Below  the  Salto 
the  river  leaves  the  province  of  Minas  Geraes,  and  enters 
that  of  Bahia  ;  but  to  make  my  description  of  the  river  com 
plete,  I  continue  it  here  to  the  sea. 

Between  the  Salto  and  the  Caxoeirinha  the  river  is  nar 
row,  with  high  gneiss  banks.  It  is  much  obstructed  by 
rocks  and  rapids ;  but  this  part  of  the  river  I  am  unable  to 
describe  in  detail,  because  I  was  obliged  to  run  the  greater 
part  of  it,  rapids  and  all,  in  the  night.  At  the  Caxoeirinha 
the  river  leaves  the  rocks,  and  becomes  a  no  d'areia.  Up 
to  this  point  the  canoes  bring  from  the  sea  very  heavy 
loads  of  salt,  &c.,  but  here  their  cargoes  have  to  be  divided 
and  rearranged.  Here  has  sprung  up  a  little  settlement, 
which  bears  the  same  name  as  the  rapids,  but  it  is  of  no 
importance. 

The  river,  on  leaving  the  rocks,  becomes  immediately  shal 
lower,  less  rapid,  and  widens  into  a  fine  broad  stream,  com 
parable  to  the  Doce,  and  from  800  to  1,000  feet  in  width  or 
more.  The  lands  also  grow  lower,  and  the  river  valley  is 


172  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

cut  through  the  coast  tertiary  band.  The  whole  country  is 
heavily  wooded,  but  the  vegetation  did  not  bear  to  me  the 
luxuriant  air  of  that  of  the  Doce.  There  are  a  few  settlers 
along  the  river,  and  one  or  two  large  fazendas.  At  a  place 
called  Zinebra,  a  few  leagues  above  the  mouth  of  the  river 
there  is  an  old  fazenda,  with  which  is  connected  a  good  saw 
mill.  Below  this  a  short  distance,  on  the  same  or  right 
bank  of  the  river,  an  American  colony  has  been  established, 
and  on  the  occasion  of  my  visit  I  found  two  Southern 
ers,  Messrs.  Ogclen  and  Thompson,  engaged  in  cutting  a 
clearing  in  the  forest.  The  locality  they  have  chosen  is 
a  fertile  one,  but  it  seems  to  me  doubtful  whether,  single- 
handed,  they  can  ever  succeed.  Below  Zinebra  the  tertiary 
lands  leave  the  river,  an  isolated  patch  being  found  on  the 
Po-assu,  a  channel  on  the  north  whence  some  of  the  waters  of 
the  Jequitinhonha  escape  into  the  Pardo.  Thence  to  the 
sea,  low  alluvial  lands,  with  a  heavy  forest  growth  and 
swamps,  border  the  broad,  beautiful  river.  It  is,  however, 
very  shallow,  and  full  of  sand-bars.  The  river  would  be 
navigable  for  a  little  flat-bottomed  river  steamer,  but  it 
would  have  to  be  of  very  light  draught.  At  the  mouth  the 
river  becomes  exceedingly  broad  and  shallow,  and  is  to  such 
an  extent  obstructed  by  sand-bars,  that  the  level  of  the 
river  is  always  higher  than  that  of  the  sea,  and  the  salt 
water  never  enters,  as  is  the  case  with  most  other  rivers. 
So  heavily  does  the  surf  beat  on  the  bar,  that  vessels  enter 
with  great  difficulty,  and  when  once  they  have  entered  it 
often  happens  that  weeks  or  even  months  may  elapse  before 
it  may  be  safe  to  pass  the  bar  again.  Cargoes  of  corn  laden 
at  Belmonte  have  often  to  be  relanded  after  lying  in  the 
hold  of  a  vessel  for  weeks.  Nor  is  this  all.  The  sand-banks 
are  constantly  shifting,  and  a  vessel  at  anchor  may  be  heaped 


PROVINCE    OF   MINAS    GERAES.  173 

round  by  sand  and  detained  for  a  long  while.  The  result 
is,  that  the  port  is  rarely  ever  resorted  to  by  coasters. 
Belmonte  is  a  little  town  situated  on  the  alluvial  border 
of  the  river,  in  a  grove  of  cocoanut-trees,  on  the  right 
bank,  a  short  distance  above  the  mouth.  During  the  fresh 
ets  it  is  liable  to  suffer  from  the  eating  away  by  the  river 
of  the  bank  on  which  the  town  stands.  It  is  of  scarcely 
any  importance,  doing  very  little  trade,  its  inhabitants  being 
principally  fishermen.  Cattle  are  raised  on  the  plains  of  the 
vicinity,  but  there  is  small  opportunity  for  agriculture. 

From  Caxoeirinha  to  the  fazenda  of  Zinebra  I  saw  next  to 
nothing  of  the  geology,  owing  to  a  part  of  the  journey  having 
been  made  in  the  night,  and  because  of  the  prevalence  of 
very  heavy  rains ;  but  near  Zinebra  I  saw  a  small  exposure 
of  shales,  wrhich  appeared  to  be  of  the  same  character  as 
those  hereafter  to  be  described  in  speaking  of  the  Rio  Pardo, 
but  owing  to  the  height  of  the  river  I  could  make  nothing 
of  them.  The  Diccionario  Geografico  says,  in  speaking  of 
the  river,  that  in  1840  beds  of  rose-colored  marble  were  dis 
covered.  Through  the  kindness  of  Senhor  Piraja  I  have  in 
my  possession  a  specimen  of  this  marble.  It  is  exceedingly 
fine  in  texture,  and  of  a  delicate  pink  tint,  compact  and 
hard,  and  would  take  a  fine  polish.  If  it  occurs  in  sufficient 
quantities,  it  would  make  a  beautiful  building-stone.  For 
the  present  let  us  leave  the  Jequitinhonha.  When  treating 
of  the  geology  of  the  Province  of  Bahia  we  shall  have  to 
return  to  it  again. 


174  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL  GEOGRAPHY. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

THE  ISLANDS  AND   CORAL  REEFS   OF  THE  ABROLHOS. 

The  Geology  of  the  Abrolhos.  —  Trap-bed,  Fossil  Plants,  &c.  —  Land  Fauna  and 
Flora ;  Spiders,  Lizards,  and  Sea-Birds.  —  The  Cemetery  of  the  Frigate-Birds. 
—  The  Whale  and  Garoupa  Fisheries.  —  Importance  of  these  Fisheries.  — 
The  mythical  Brazilian  Keef.  —  The  Coral  Reefs  and  Consolidated  Beaches 
confounded  by  Travellers  and  Writers.  —  The  Author's  Discovery  of  the 
Porto  Seguran  Coral  Keef.  —  Coral-building  Corals  found  almost  wholly  to 
the  north  of  Cape  Frio.  —  The  Fringing  Reef  of  Santa  Barbara ;  its  Structure 
and  Life.  —  Corals  found  on  the  Reef.  —  Star-fishes,  Ophiurans,  &c.  — 
Resemblance  between  the  Echinoderms  of  the  Abrolhos  and  West  Indies.  — 
The  Chapeiroes. —  The  Parcel  dos  Abrolhos;  its  Appearance;  forms  a 
serious  Obstacle  to  Navigation.  —  Safe  Canal  west  of  the  Islands.  — The 
Parcel  dos  Paredes.  —  The  Recife  do  Lixo.  —  Its  great  Extent.  —  The  Sub 
merged  Border  and  its  Coral-Growth.  —  The  Coral  Fauna  of  Brazil.  —  The 
Millepores  and  their  Stinging  Properties.  —  The  Reefs  of  Timbebas,  Ita- 
columi,  Porto  Seguro,  Santa  Cruz,  Camamu,  Bahia,  Maceid,  and  Pernam- 
buco.  —  The  Roccas. 

THE  islands  of  the  Abrolhos  *  lie  about  midway  between 
the  cities  of  Rio  and  Bahia,  a  little  south  of  the  parallel  of 

*  The  general  impression  seems  to  be  that  the  name  is  derived  from  the  Por 
tuguese  words  meaning,  "  Open  your  eyes,"  a  name  which  would  be  exceed 
ingly  appropriate,  for  the  islands,  whitened  by  the  dung  of  sea-birds,  have  a 
spectral  look,  and,  in  addition,  the  reefs  with  which  they  are  surrounded  are  so 
dangerous,  that,  before  the  lighthouse  was  erected,  it  required  much  vigilance 
to  enable  vessels  to  pass  them  in  safety,  and  they  have  been  always  justly 
dreaded.  The  author  of  the  odd  old  Dutch  Reys-boeck  van  het  rijclce  Brasilien, 
published  in  1624,  says  that  they  are  very  periculeus,  and  adds  :  "  Daerom  als 
hy  dese  passagien  passeren  willen  so  nemen  sy  eerst  met  al  haer  vole  hct  Sac 
rament  ende  wanneer  sy  die  ghepasseert  hebben  bedrijven  sygroote  blijdtschap- 
ghelijck  al  by  alle  Jurnalen  soo  wel  vande  spaensche  als  van  de  onse  te  sien  is ! " 


THE  ISLANDS   AND   CORAL  REEFS   OF  THE  ABROLHOS.       175 


ISLAND   OF   SANTA   BARBARA   DOS   ABROLHOS. 

Caravellas,  and  at  a  distance  of  about  forty  miles  from  the 
mainland.  The  position  of  the  lighthouse  on  the  island  of 
Santa  Barbara  is,  according  to  Mouchez,  lat.  17°  57'  31" 
S.,  long.  40°  58'  58"  west  from  Paris.  These  islands  are 
situated  apparently  near  the  middle  of  the  submerged  bor 
der  of  the  continent,  which  here,  over  a  very  large  area,  lies 
at  a  depth  of  less  than  one  hundred  feet.  They  are  four  in 
number,  with  two  little  islets,  and  they  are  arranged  in  an 
irregular  circle,  three  of  them  close  together.  All  are  rocky 
and  rather  high,  Santa  Barbara,  the  principal  one,  being 
33.22  metres  in  height.  The  length  of  this  island  is  about 
three  quarters  of  a  mile.  Its  outline  is  irregular,  and 
it  is  very  narrow.  It  is  composed  of  beds  of  sandstone, 
shales,  and  trap,  which  dip  approximately  north-northwest, 
at  an  angle  of  from  ten  to  fifteen  degrees.  Owing  to  this 

Captain  and  crew  took  the  Sacrament  before  passing  them  !  The  name,  how 
ever,  means  rocks,  and  is  so  defined  in  Fonseca's  Dictionary.  There  is  a  little 
group  of  reefs  and  islands  lying  on  the  western  coast  of  Australia,  in  lat.  28° 
S.,  and  known  as  Houtman's  Abrolhos.  These  are,  in  great  part  at  least, 
composed  of  coral 


176 


GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 


northward  dip  of  the  strata,  the  northern  side  of  this  island 
presents  a  steep  slope  to  the  sea,  while  on  all  other  sides  it 
is  precipitous.  The  island  is  almost  divided  in  two  in  the 
middle  by  a  cove  indenting  it  on  the  southern  side. 


THE   ISLANDS  OF   THE  ABKOLHOS   FROM   THE   SOUTH. 

In  the  cliff  below  the  lighthouse,  the  lowest  beds  seen  are 
an  arenaceous  limestone  (?),  a,  of  the  following  diagram, — 


a  rock  so  hard  as  to  form  a  platform  below  the  cliff.  Over 
this  is  a  hard,  blue  shale,  6,  with  undeterminable  organic 
markings,  some  of  which  appear  to  be  the  scales  of  Teleos- 
tian  fishes.  This  is  again  overlaid  by  a  thick  bed  of  a  yellow 
ish  sandstone,  c,  rather  fine  in  texture,  and  sometimes  more 
or  less  shaly,  on  the  surfaces  of  some  of  the  layers  of  which 
there  are  obscure  impressions  of  plants.  This  sandstone  is 
harder  than  the  underlying  shales,  and  so  forms  an  over 
hanging  cliff.  The  sandstones  are  overlaid  by  a  bed  of 
basaltic  trap  that  occupies  the  greater  part  of  the  surface  of 


THE  ISLANDS   AND   CORAL  REEFS   OF   THE   ABROLHOS.       177 

the    island,   as    is   seen   in   the    following   little    map,   in 
which  the  darkly  shaded  portion  represents  the  trap-bed. 


r 


This  trap-bed  is  divided  by  numerous  joints  into  polyhedral 
masses  of  all  sizes.  On  the  upper  surface  of  the  bed  these 
masses  have  lost,  by  decomposition,  one  concentric  coat 
after  another,  until,  in  some  cases,  they  have  been  rounded 
down  to  irregular  spheres,  like  cannon-balls,  and  the  greater 
part  of  the  island  is  strewn  with  these 
boulders  of  decomposition.  I  have  al 
ready  called  attention  to  similar  boul 
ders  at  Tijuca.  The  trap  of  Santa 
Barbara  is  traversed  by  but  few  veins, 
so  far  as  I  could  see,  the  only  mineral  that  I  could  find  be 
ing  chalcedony,  incrusting  cavities,  and  having  the  color 
and  general  appearance  of  Prenhite.  Cracks  and  crevices  are 
sometimes  filled  up  with  guano  and  phosphates  from  the 
dung  of  the  sea-birds  that  frequent  the  islands  ;  but  I  saw 
no  regular  deposit  of  guano.  The  surface  of  the  rocks  is 
sometimes  covered  in  patches  by  an  incrustation  of  a  hard, 
brownish  substance,  which  I  have  supposed  to  have  been 
deposited  by  the  surface  waters,  and  to  have  been  derived 

8*  L 


178  GEOLOGY   AND    PHYSICAL    GEOGRAPHY. 

from  the  birds'  dung.  Darwin,  who  visited  the  islands  on 
his  celebrated  voyage  round  the  world,  also  speaks  of  it,  and 
describes  a  similar  substance  as  found  on  the  island  of 
Ascension,  and  on  St.  Paul's  rocks.*  The  same  geologist 
mentions  having  observed  a  columnar  structure  in  the  trap 
of  Santa  Barbara,  but  I  find  no  note  of  it  in  my  journal. 
The  underlying  stratified  beds  are  somewhat  altered,  and 
indurated  from  their  proximity  to  the  trap. 

In  lithological  characters  the  Abrolhos  beds  resemble  the 
sandstones,  <fcc.,  of  the  Rio  Sao  Francisco  at  Penedo,  to  be 
described  farther  on,  and  which  contain  similar  plant  re 
mains.  They  have  been  disturbed  by  the  same  upheaval, 
and  I  have  little  hesitation  in  referring  both  to  the  creta 
ceous. 

If  my  identification  be  correct,  it  is  interesting  to  observe 
the  cretaceous  rocks  on  the  eastern  border  region  of  South 
America  disturbed  and  associated  with  volcanic  deposits,  for 
along  the  eastern  border  region  of  North  America  the  cre 
taceous  and  tertiary  rocks  have  suffered  no  disturbance.  I 
have  seen  no  trace  of  secondary  rocks  on  the  coast  oppo 
site  the  Abrolhos  and  to  the  southward.  On  the  Mucury 
and  elsewhere  the  tertiary  clays  are  everywhere  seen  to  rest 
immediately  on  the  gneiss  ;  but  the  submerged  border  of  the 
continent  seems  to  be  more  or  less  overlaid  by  cretaceous 
strata,  as  in  the  eastern  border  region  of  North  America. 

The  Ilha  Redonda,  lying  just  west  of  Santa  Barbara,  is 
composed  of  rocks  of  the  same  character  as  those  of  Santa 
Barbara,  but  I  observed  no  basalt.  Near  the  top  of  the  cliff, 
on  the  eastern  side  of  Redonda,  there  is  seen  a  thick  bed  of 
a  white  or  yellowish  material  which  looks  like  chalk,  and  is 
easily  cut  with  a  knife  when  wet,  but  on  drying  it  grows 

*  Darwin,  Geological  Observations,  Part  II.  p.  33. 


THE  ISLANDS  AND   CORAL  REEFS   OF   THE   ABROLHOS.     179 

harder.  It  does  not,  however,  effervesce  with  acids,  and  it 
appears  to  be  an  aluminous  product  of  the  decomposition  of 
some  rock.  Mr.  Henry  Hughes,  of  Cornell  University,  ex 
amined  a  specimen  of  the  rock,  and  reports  it  as  containing 
quite  a  percentage  of  phosphoric  acid,  which  has  doubtless 
been  brought  into  the  rock  by  the  percolation  through  it  of 
rain-water  from  the  dung-strewn  surface  of  the  ground  above. 
The  other  two  islands  are  composed  of  stratified  rocks  which 
appear  to  underlie  conformably  those  of  Santa  Barbara  and 
Redonda ;  but  I  was  unable  to  visit  them.  On  the  shores  of 
Santa  Barbara  I  found  fragments  of  pumice  scattered  about 
and  much  rolled  by  the  waves.  These  have  been  observed 
elsewhere  on  the  Brazilian  coast,  and  it  is  somewhat  puz 
zling  to  account  for  their  origin.  Darwin  found  pumice 
pebbles  on  the  coast  at  Bahia  Blanca,  in  the  southern  part  of 
the  Argentine  Republic  ;  but  these,  he  says,  had  been  brought 
down  by  the  rivers  flowing  from  the  cordillera.* 

The  beaches  of  the  Abrolhos  Islands  are  formed  in  part 
of  the  debris  of  the  rocks  comprising  the  islands,  but  they 
consist  largely,  and  in  some  places  entirely,  of  coral  and 
shell  sand.  It  is  very  interesting  to  see  how  these  materi 
als  are  cemented  together  through  the  action  of  the  sea 
water,  and  even  the  shingle  is  soldered  into  an  exceedingly 
firm  mass.f 

*  Darwin,  Geological  Observations,  Part  III.  p.  4. 

t  I  have  seen  the  same  in  the  island  of  St.  Thomas,  W.  I.  Darwin  says : 
"  On  the  shores  of  Quail  Island  in  the  Cape  Verdes  I  found  fragments  of 
brick,  bolts  of  iron,  pebbles,  and  large  fragments  of  basalt  united  by  a  scanty  base 
of  impure  calcareous  matter  into  a  firm  conglomerate.  To  show  how  exceedingly 
firm  this  recent  conglomerate  is,  I  may  mention  that  I  endeavored  with  a  heavy 
geological  hammer  to  knock  out  a  thick  bolt  of  iron  which  was  embedded  a 
little  above  low-water  mark,  but  was  quite  unable  to  succeed."  —  Geological 
Observations,  Part  II.  p.  21. 


180  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

On  the  island  of  Santa  Barbara  was  erected  a  few  years 
ago  an  excellent  lighthouse  with  a  flash  light,  and  the  only 
human  inhabitants  of  the  island  are  the  lighthouse-keeper 
and  his  assistants.  A  few  goats  were  introduced  on  Santa 
Barbara  some  time  since,  which  have  multiplied  until  there 
is  now  a  flock  of  several  hundreds.  These  animals  have 
almost  deprived  the  island  of  vegetation,  and  can  now  only 
barely  subsist.  Redonda  is  covered  with  coarse  grasses,  with 
dwarf  mimosas  and  a  few  ferns,  &c.,  —  a  very  meagre  flora. 
The  island  Siriba  boasts  in  addition  a  single  tree  of  the 
same  name,  together  with  two  dwarf  cocoa-palms  planted  by 
the  whalers  from  Caravellas.  The  land  animals  consist  of 
little  lizards  of  several  species,  which  are  extraordinarily 
abundant,  more  so  than  in  any  other  locality  I  ever  visited. 
An  immense  Myg-ale,  the  Aranha  caranguejeira  of  the  Bra 
zilians,  abounds  in  like  manner,  living  under  stones,  but  I 
did  not  observe  that  it  made  any  nest.  This  huge  spider 
preys  on  the  lizards.  It  has  been  known  to  attack  and  kill 
young  chickens  on  the  island  and  suck  their  blood,  and  it 
is  not  improbable  that  it  may  destroy  the  young  of  the 
sea-birds,  so  common  on  the  island. 

Breeding-places  for  sea-birds  are  few  along  the  Brazilian 
coast  north  of  Cape  Frio,  and  during  certain  seasons  of  the 
year  several  species  resort  to  the  Abrolhos  in  great  num 
bers.  Among  these  are  the  frigate-bird  (  Tachy petes  aqui- 
lina),  the  Piloto,  the  Grazina  (Phaeton),  Beneditos,  gulls, 
&c.  Since  the  occupation  of  the  island  by  men  and  goats, 
and  the  establishment  of  the  lighthouse,  these  birds  have 
resorted  to  the  island  of  Santa  Barbara  less  abundantly  than 
formerly.  One  fact  with  reference  to  the  frigate-bird  is 
worth  mentioning.  At  the  southwest  extremity  of  Santa  Bar 
bara  is  a  little  islet  composed  of  a  heap  of  large  trap  boulders 


THE   ISLANDS   AND    CORAL   REEFS   OF   THE   ABROLHOS.     181 

of  decomposition,  and  joined  to  the  main  island,  as  I  shall 
have  occasion  hereafter  to  remark,  by  a  fringing  coral  reef. 
This  islet,  whitened  by  the  bird-dung,  is  called  "  O  Ceme- 
terio"  or  the  cemetery.  I  was  assured  that  to  this  sepul 
chral-looking  spot  the  frigate-birds  of  the  vicinity  resorted 
on  the  approach  of  death,  and  that  the  place  was  strewn 
with  their  bones.  At  low  water  one  day  I  visited  the 
"  cemetery,"  and  I  found  such  to  be  actually  the  case. 
There  were  remains  of  hundreds  of  these  birds,  some  freshly 
dead,  but  the  most  of  the  skeletons  were  disarticulated  and 
bleached.  Nowhere  else  did  I  see  a  dead  frigate,  and  it 
would  seem  that  for  generation  after  generation  they 
had  gone  there  to  die.  I  do  not  know  of  a  better  station 
for  an  ornithologist  desirous  of  studying  the  habits  and 
embryology  of  the  sea-birds  of  Brazil  than  the  island  of 
Santa  Barbara.  He  can  find  as  comfortable  lodgings  at  the 
lighthouse  as  he  could  possibly  desire,  and  he  may  at  the 
right  season  of  the  year  collect  as  many  specimens,  young 
and  adult,  of  the  birds  frequenting  the  island  as  he  may 
wish. 

Before  I  go  on  to  speak  of  the  coral  reefs  of  the  Abrolhos 
and  vicinity,  a  few  remarks  on  the  fisheries  may  not  here 
be  out  of  place.  On  the  coast  of  Brazil  are  found  several 
species  of  whales  and  smaller  cetaceans,  but  these  animals 
have  not  been  carefully  examined  by  competent  naturalists, 
and  I  am  unable  to  give  as  accurate  an  account  of  them  as 
I  could  desire.  These  animals  are  captured  at  various  sta 
tions,  from  Santa  Catheriiia  northward  to  Bahia.  At  pres 
ent  the  two  most  important  stations  are  Caravellas  in  the 
Abrolhos  region  and  Bahia.  I  visited  the  Abrolhos  during 
the  whaling  season,  and  during  my  cruise  I  saw  several  hump 
backs  (Meg-aptera*),  all  apparently  of  the  same  species;  but 


182  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

I  was  not  so  fortunate  as  to  see  a  fresh  specimen  brought 
in.  I  made  the  most  diligent  inquiries  of  the  fishermen  in 
relation  to  the  different  kinds  they  were  accustomed  to  take, 
but  they  seem  to  confound  the  species,  and  I  could  obtain 
nothing  very  satisfactory  from  them. 

From  all  that  I  could  learn,  three  species  are  taken  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  Abrolhos.  The  noruega  is  a  humpback, 
which  has  the  belly  white  and  smooth,  back  very  dark 
bluish,  length  fifty  to  fifty-five  feet.  This  whale  gives  more 
oil  than  the  mystipa,  which  the  whalers  said  differed  from 
the  above  in  having  the  back  black,  and  the  belly  and  throat 
furrowed.  Sometimes  they  have  white  spots  on  the  sides. 

The  ca$el6  (cachelot)  is  distinguished  by  being  wholly 
dark  colored  or  black,  and  without  spots  or  furrows.  The 
fishery  begins  at  Bahia,  according  to  Castelnau,*  about  the 
13th  of  June,  and  lasts  until  the  21st  of  September.  At 
Caravellas  I  was  assured  that  the  whales  always  appeared 
later  than  at  Bahia,  and  the  fishery  does  not  begin  until 
the  last  week  in  June,f  continuing  through  the  month  of 
September.  This  seems  strange,  since  the  whales,  ac 
cording  to  the  fishermen,  come  from  the  south  in  June, 
and  return  in  September,  and  one  would  naturally  expect 
that  they  would  arrive  at  the  Abrolhos  before  they  arrive 
at  Bahia.  The  first  whales  appear  in  the  Abrolhos  waters 
at  about  the  end  of  May,  and  they  linger  until  October. 
The  females  often  bring  young  calves  with  them,  and  ap 
pear  to  seek  the  shelter  of  the  reefs.  The  head-quarters  of 
the  Abrolhos  fishery  is  at  Caravellas,  or  rather  at  the 
mouth  of  the  river  Caravellas,  where  are  situated  the  ar- 
ma^oes,  or  trying-houses.  In  the  year  1867  there  were 

*  Expedition  dans  I'Amfrique  du  Sud,  Tome  I.  p.  1 50. 
t  So  also  Von  Tschudi. 


THE   ISLANDS  AND   CORAL   REEFS   OF   THE   ABROLHOS.     183 

employed  in  this  fishery  seventeen  launches.  These  ves 
sels  are  large,  well-made,  pink-sterned,  open  boats,  carry 
ing  one  large  square  sail.  The  same  build  of  launch  is  used 
at  Bahia,  and  they  are  very  good  sailers.  One  of  these 
launches  costs,  the  hull  alone,  about  500  8  000  (8  250,  more 
or  less).*  The  crew  consists  of  from  fourteen  to  sixteen 
persons.  Each  launch  takes  in  tow  a  whale-boat.  These 
are  of  the  ordinary  build,  and  cost  about  230  8  000.  The 
crew  of  the  boat  consists  of  seven  men,  —  a  harpooner  and  a 
steersman,  the  rest  being  rowers.  The  launch  and  boat 
usually  belong  to  one  person,  who  hires  the  crew  for  the 
season,  or  safra,  furnishing  them  rations  every  ten  days. 
When  a  large  whale  is  captured  the  harpooner  receives 
120  8  000,  but  if  small  only  half  that  sum.  The  steersman 
receives  half  the  prize  money  of  the  harpooner,  the  rowers 
each  248000  if  the  whale  be  large,  and  128000  if  small. 
The  master  of  the  launch  receives  408000  if  large,  20  8  000 
if  small,  and  the  crew  168000  if  large,  88000  if  small. 
The  dead  whale  is  towed  in  to  land  by  the  launch,  aided  by 
the  boat  if  necessary.  The  distance  is  often  great,  and 
when  the  wind  is  adverse  the  whale  often  comes  to  land  in 
a  wretched  condition,  and  frequently  badly  mangled  by 
sharks,  which  abound  in  these  waters.  A  small  tug  would 
be  of  much  service  in  this  fishery,  not  only  to  .bring  the 
whales  promptly  to  the  shore,  but  occasionally  to  tow 
the  launches  in  case  of  a  head  wind.  The  whales  are 
brought  to  the  shore,  beached  in  front  of  the  trying-houses, 
and  cut  up.  There  are  several  of  these  trying-houses. 
The  one  that  1  visited  was  well  constructed,  and  was  fur- 

*  The  reader  will  please  bear  in  mind  that  the  1  $000  or  mil-reis  (not  mil- 
rei,  as  foreigners  will  call  it),  has  an  approximate  value  of  about  fifty  cents 
American  currency. 


184  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

nished  with  five  cutting-tanks,  which  would  accommodate 
the  blubber  of  two  large  whales,  together  with  ten  tanks 
for  oil  having  a  capacity  of  about  15,000  gallons.  There 
were  twenty-six  trying-pots. 

The  armagoes  are  hired  by  the  owner  of  the  launch  cap 
turing  the  whale,  who  furnishes  the  men  necessary  for  the 
cutting  up  and  trying  out.  The  large  females  accompanied 
by  young,  madrijosf  are  very  fat,  and  are  the  most  valuable 
prizes.  There  are  killed  every  year  and  cut  up  at  the  Ponta 
da  Balea  from  thirty  to  ninety  whales  ;  but  were  the  fishery 
pursued  more  vigorously,  with  proper  economy  of  time  and 
the  use  of  a  small  steam-tug  or  two,  the  yield  might  be 
more  than  doubled.  I  learn  through  M.  Bornand,  of  Villa 
Yigosa,  that  a  company  has  been  formed  at  that  town  for 
the  prosecution  of  the  fishery.  A  good-sized  whale  ought  to 
afford  1,000  to  1,600  canadas  of  oil,  the  Canada  containing 
about  ten  bottles,  or  one  and  eight  ninths  gallons,  the  large 
whales  giving  much  more.  The  oil,  whose  quality  might, 
it  seems  to  me,  be  improved  by  more  care  in  the  trying  out, 
sells  on  the  spot  at  from  1  $  600  to  3  $  000  per  Canada. 

The  whalebone  is  short,  but  sells  well,  but  I  have  omitted 
to  note  the  price  it  brings.  The  beach  on  which  the  whales 
are  cut  up  is  covered  during  the  season  by  huge  masses  of 
rotting  flesh,  and  is  strewn  with  bones.  There  must  be 
on  the  spot  the  bones  of  over  500  whales.  These,  with 
the  flesh  and  the  refuse  from  the  trying-pots,  would,  prop 
erly  and  scientifically  prepared,  make  an  excellent  manure, 
which,  if  judiciously  applied,  would  go  far  towards  re 
juvenating  the  soils  of  the  plantations  of  the  vicinity,  which 
are  rapidly  becoming  exhausted.  At  present  it  seems 
ridiculous  to  hear  the  complaints  of  the  planters,  while 

*  Madrijas  ?    I  do  not  find  the  word  in  Fonseca. 


THE  ISLANDS   AND   CORAL   BEEFS   OF   THE  ABROLHOS.     185 

hundreds  of  tons  of  the  most  valuable  kind  of  manure  are 
left  to  rot  on  the  sands  or  are  poured  into  the  sea !  The 
Abrolhos  region  is  rarely  visited  by  whalers,  though  I  was 
informed  that  an  American  vessel  some  nine  years  ago 
spent  a  season  on  the  ground,  taking  twenty  whales. 

The  fishery  at  Bahia  is  carried  on  on  a  much  larger  scale 
than  at  Caravellas.  Castelnau*  estimated  in  1850  that  it 
gave  occupation  to  2,000  persons,  and  from  100  to  120 
boats,  giving  a  revenue  of  200,000  francs.  The  same  author 
estimated  that  on  the  whole  coast  of  Brazil  from  10,000  to 
12,000  persons  were  engaged  in  this  fishery,  and  that  it 
produced  a  capital  of  1,000,000  francs,  but  it  seems  to  me 
that  that  estimate  would  be  far  too  high  for  the  present 
time.  Castelnau  speaks  of  the  fact  that  whale-flesh  is 
used  as  food  by  the  lower  classes  in  Bahia,  and  I  saw 
it  exposed  for  sale ;  but  Dr.  Antonio  de  Lacerda  assured 
me  that  it  was  not  healthy,  and  tended  to  produce  ele 
phantiasis.  Castelnau  states  that,  according  to  the  fisher 
men,  the  whales  enter  the  bay  every  morning,  but  always 
return  to  the  open  sea  to  spend  the  night,  and  I  heard 
the  same  report.  Whales  are  frequently  taken  very  near 
the  city,  and  one  may  sometimes  enjoy  the  rare  sight  of 
sitting  at  a  restaurant  in  the  upper  city  and  watching  the 
chase  and  capture  of  a  whale  in  the  bay  below  ! 

The  other  fishery  carried  on  in  the  waters  of  the  Abrolhos 
is  that  of  the  garoupa,  an  excellent  fish  exceedingly  abun 
dant,  and  taken  with  the  hook  and  line.  The  head-quarters 
of  this  fishery  is  at  Porto  Seguro,  a  town  some  seventy 
miles  to  the  northward  of  the  Abrolhos.  At  this  town  is 
owned  a  fleet  of  thirty-five  or  forty  small  vessels,  each  car 
rying  from  seven  to  ten  men.  The  fishery  really  extends 

*  Expedition  dans  I'Amerique  du  Sud.     Histoire  du  Voyage.     Tome  I.  p.  152. 


186  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

from  Barra  Secca  northward  to  the  Commandatuba,  but  the 
best  grounds  lie  between  lat.  17°  and  18°  S.  The  cruise  is 
usually  for  twenty-five  or  thirty  days.  The  fish  taken  are 
principally  g-aroupas,  but  there  are  also  several  other  kinds, 
such  as  the  meiro,  vermelho,  &c.  The  fish  are  salted  down 
in  the  hold,  but,  owing  to  the  heat,  they  arrive  almost  in 
variably  with  a  very  strong  and  disagreeable  odor.  They 
are  dried  on  shore  and  sent  to  Bahia.  The  yearly  product 
of  this  fishery  is  from  160,000  to  200,000  arrobas  (2,560  to 
3,200  tons).  The  garoupa  is  a  delicious  fish,  and  with 
proper  care  might  be  prepared  so  as  to  be  quite  equal 
to  the  cod.  The  names  of  the  fish  taken  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  Abrolhos,  and  which  are  used  for  food,  are  legion, 
and  among  them  are  some  of  the  most  delicious  of  ma 
rine  fish.  The  Abrolhos  Islands  offer  an  excellent  station 
for  drying  and  curing  fish,  and  there  has  been  some  talk 
of  establishing  there  the  head-quarters  of  a  company  to 
carry  on  this  fishery.  Immense  quantities  of  codfish  are 
now  sent  to  Brazil,  together  with  European  sardines  and 
canned  fish  from  Portugal,  and  every  venda  is  full  of  them. 
Some  enterprising  American  should  form  a  company  for  the 
development  of  this  fishery.  The  Brazilian  fish  are  as 
cheaply  obtained  as  the  Portuguese,  they  are  nowhere  to 
be  excelled,  and  Brazil  ought  to  be  exporting  her  delicious 
fishes,  canned,  or  otherwise  prepared,  to  Europe,  besides 
supplying  her  own  market.  The  government  would  favor 
any  undertaking  of  the  kind  proposed,  and  there  are  wealthy 
Brazilians  who  would  aid  in  carrying  it  out. 

In  works  on  Brazil,  from  those  of  the  old  explorers  to  the 
present  time,  we  find  the  uniform  statement  that  a  reef  or 
consolidated  beach,  like  that  of  Pernambuco  or  Barra  Secca, 
extends  around  the  greater  part  of  the  Brazilian  coast. 


THE  ISLANDS   AND   CORAL   EEEFS   OF  THE   ABROLHOS.     187 

There  has  been  much  confusion  as  to  what  this  reef  really 
was,  some  describing  it  as  of  coral,  others  as  composed  of 
sandstone,  but  in  scientific  works  it  is  generally  stated  that 
no  coral  reefs  exist  on  the  coast  of  Brazil. 

I  am  not  sure  who  first  expressed  the  opinion  that  the 
stone  reef  surrounded  a  large  part  of  the  coast,  but  I  find 
it  in  Piso,  whose  first  volume  bears  date  1648.*  Since 
his  time  this  general  reef  has  been  described  over  and  over 
again  almost  in  the  same  words,  and  it  is  even  occasionally 
to  be  found  laid  down  on  maps. 

Prince  Max.  zu  Neu  Wied  has  nothing  to  say  concerning 
the  true  coral  reefs,  and,  strangely  enough,  he  does  not 
describe  the  Porto  Seguran  or  Santa  Cruz  consolidated 
beaches,  notwithstanding  he  gives  drawings  of  both.  Von 
Martius,t  however,  observed  coral  banks  at  Camamu  and 
near  Ilhdos,  and  referred  some  of  the  corals  to  Lamarckian 
species. 

Darwin,  who  just  touched  at  the  Albrohos,  observed 
corals  growing  on  the  shore,  but  he  did  not  see  the  reef.  In 
his  Geological  Observations  J  he  says :  "  Round  many  inter- 
tropical  islands,  —  for  instance  the  Abrolhos  on  the  coast  of 
Brazil,  surveyed  by  Captain  Fitz  Roy,  and,  as  I  am  informed 
by  Dr.  Gumming,  round  the  Philippines,  —  the  bottom  of  the 
sea  is  entirely  coated  by  irregular  masses  of  coral,  which,  al 
though  often  of  large  size,  do  not  reach  the  surface  and  form 
proper  reefs."  Darwin  speaks  also  of  having  received  infor- 

*  Piso  says  :  "  Maximam  Brasilia  partem,  nuno  interrupts  nunc  continuato 
ducto  tuctus.  Ejus  latitude  planissima  cst  et  quasi  arte  in  superficii  levigata  ad 
viginti,  subinde  triginta  passus  et  ultra  se  extcndit.  Tantas  vero  altitudinis  ut 
vix  summo  aestu  inunditur."  —  Hist.  Nat.  Brasilice.  Guilielmi  Pisonis,  M.  D. 
de  Med.  Brasil.  Liber  primus.  1648. 

t  Reise  nach  Brasilien,  Band  II.  Seite  684,  685. 

J  Part  I.  p.  58. 


188  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

mation  of  the  coral  reef  at  Maceio,  which  further  on  I  shall 
describe  ;  and  in  another  place  in  the  same  work,  referring 
to  the  Pilote  du  Bresil,  by  Baron  Roussin,  a  work  I  have 
never  seen,  he  says  :  "  A  few  miles  south  of  the  latter  city 
[Pernambuco]  the  reef  follows  so  closely  every  turn  of  the 
shore  that  I  can  hardly  doubt  that  it  is  of  coral."  Dana 
also  says  :  *  "  About  Pernambuco,  as  I  am  informed  by  Mr. 
Titian  R.  Peal,  there  are  some  patches  of  growing  corals, 
and  they  are  said  to  extend  along  to  20°  or  21°  south  lati 
tude,"  which  is  not  quite  correct,  as  we  shall  see  further  on. 
Staff-Commander  Penn,f  in  treating  of  Cape  Sao  Roque, 
says  that  "  the  coast  of  Pititinga  and  the  Cape  is  skirted 
by  a  reef  which,  between  two  and  two  and  a  half  miles 
southward  of  the  former,  in  front  of  two  small  villages,  forms 
a  curve  with  its  outer  edge  and  runs  thence  a  mile  from  the 
shore,  having  two  and  three  quarters  fathoms  of  water  inside 
of  it."  These  reefs  are  represented  on  the  map  of  Rio 
Grande  do  Norte  by  Almeida,  and  they  appear  to  be  coral 
reefs.  Penn  speaks  of  other  reefs  between  the  Punalm  and 
the  Touro  which  are  of  the  same  character.  A  little  farther 
on  J  he  says :  "  The  recife,  a  singular  ridge  of  coral  rock, 
borders  the  coast,  generally  at  a  distance  of  about  a  half  to 
three  miles,  but  in  some  places  much  farther  off,  and  ex 
tends  more  or  less  from  the  northeast  part  of  Brazil  as  far 
as  Bahia.  Traces  of  it  may  be  found  farther  southward 
and  along  the  north  coast  to  Maranhao.  The  reef,  which  is 
about  sixteen  feet  in  breadth  at  the  top,  slopes  to  the  sea 
ward,  is  perpendicular  on  the  shore,  and  said  to  be  generally 
covered,  but  sometimes  rises  from  distance  to  distance 

*  Coral  Reefs  and  Islands,  p.  108. 

t  South  American  Coast  Pilot,  Vol.  I.  p.  22. 

J  Op.  cit.  p.  25. 


THE   ISLANDS   AND   CORAL  REEFS   OF  THE   ABROLHOS.     189 

nearly  three  feet  out  of  water.  It  is  nearly  always  bordered 
by  rocky  banks,  and  forms  a  natural  breakwater,  having 
smooth  water  and  shallow  inside  of  it,  with  navigable  chan 
nels  for  coasters,  &c.  It  is  broken  occasionally,  and  forms 
by  the  openings  entrances  to  the  greater  part  of  the  ports, 
rivers,  and  creeks  on  the  coast."  Now  such  a  description 
could  never  have  been  written  by  any  intelligent  seaman 
who  had  examined  the  coast.  It  is  Piso's  account  of  the 
recife  told  over  again,  and  it  is  the  more  erroneous  since  it 
gives  more  detail. 

Gardner  not  only  mistook  the  structure  of  the  Pernam- 
bucan  stone  reef  or  consolidated  beach,  but  he  describes  the 
mythical  coast  reef  in  the  same  general  terms.  So  no 
wonder  that  the  whole  structure  and  character  of  the  coast 
reefs  of  Brazil  have  remained  a  puzzle  to  the  geologist  and 
the  geographer,  and  that  it  has  been  a  serious  question  as  to 
what  the  Abrolhos  reefs  really  were,  one  author  declaring 
that  they  were  formed  of  decomposed  gneiss  !  The  fact  is, 
that  the  reefs  of  Brazil  are  of  two  kinds,  the  coral  reefs 
and  the  consolidated  beaches,  which  last  are  occasionally 
separated  from  the  coast  line,  and  sometimes  run  across 
the  mouths  of  rivers,  as  at  Porto  Seguro,  Pernambuco,  <fcc., 
like  narrow  rock  walls  resembling  artificial  breakwaters. 
These,  so  far  as  I  have  observed  or  can  learn,  are  never 
found  at  any  great  distance  from  the  shore,  neither  are  they 
continuous  over  any  great  distances.  The  Brazilian  calls 
them  recifes.  That  at  Pernambuco,  owing  to  the  great 
trade  with  that  port,  has  become  famed,  and  many  travel 
lers  have  seen  it  and  been  puzzled  over  it. 

From  the  Abrolhos  northward  to  the  shore  of  Maranhao, 
at  very  irregular  and  often  very  long  intervals,  are  scat 
tered  true  coral  reefs,  which  lie  in  patches  at  a  short  dis- 


190  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

tance  from  the  shore,  there  being  usually  navigable  channels 
between  them  and  the  mainland.  It  is  very  rare  that  one 
of  these  reefs  is  dry  other  than  at  very  low  tide,  and  the  sea 
constantly  breaks  on  its  outer  edge.  These  reefs  are  known 
by  the  Brazilians  as  recifcs*  Coral  and  coral-rock  are 
called  pedra  de  cal,  or  limestone.  The  whole  confusion  has 
evidently  arisen  in  this  way :  A  traveller  has  visited  Pernam- 
buco,  and  has  seen  the  reef.  He  hears  it  called  the  recife, 
and  is  told  that  the  coast  of  Brazil  is  bordered  by  recifes. 
On  his  way  up  or  down  the  coast  he  sees  from  time  to  time 
the  sea  breaking  against  the  coral  reefs  in  a  long  line  of  surf. 
His  pilot  tells  him  that  is  the  recife.  He  perhaps  asks  if  it  is 
made  of  coral ;  but  this  word  in  Brazil  is  almost  exclusively 
applied  to  the  precious  red  coral  (Corallium  rubrum'),  and 
the  pilot  says,  "  No,  it  is  made  of  pedra,  or  pedra  de  cal" 
Some  of  the  coral  reefs  are  laid  bare  at  low  water,  but  their 
great  width  is  not  visible  from  the  deck  of  a  ship  sailing  at 
a  distance,  and  they  look  like  walls.  So  the  coral-reefs  of 
Brazil  have  come  to  be  confounded  with  the  consolidated 
beaches  ;  indeed,  I  should  never  have  suspected  the  real 
character  of  the  coral  reef  of  Santa  Cruz,  close  to  which  I 
passed  in  a  steamer,  had  it  not  been  that  I  had  previously 
examined  the  coral  reef  at  Porto  Seguro.  It  seemed  a  low, 
narrow  wall,  and  there  was  nothing  that  I  could  elicit  from 
the  pilot  or  captain  that  would  have  led  me  to  suppose 
that  it  differed  from  the  inner  consolidated  beaches  at  Porto 
Seguro  or  Santa  Cruz. 

I  made  my  first  acquaintance  with   the   coral-reefs   of 
Brazil  while  at  Porto  Seguro,  in  1866.      I  had  been  for 

*  This  word,  as  I  shall  show  further  on,  is  derived  from  the  Arabic  word 
razif,  which  means  literally  a  pavement.  Sometimes  the  form  arrecife  is  used. 
Compare  reef,  Eng.,  riff",  Germ.,  and  rtdf,  French.  See  Recife  in  Index. 


THE  ISLANDS   AND   CORAL  REEFS   OF   THE   ABROLHOS.      191 

several  days  collecting  on  the  stone-reef  or  consolidated 
beach,  before  I  heard  of  the  outer  reef.  There  was  nothing 
that  I  could  learn  from  the  fishermen  that  could  warrant 
me  in  considering  it  as  anything  else  than  a  consolidated 
beach ;  but  my  studies  of  the  latter  class  of  reefs  had  satis 
fied  me  that  the  outer  reef  could  not  possibly  be  of  that 
character,  and  when,  on  a  spring  tide,  I  visited  it,  in  com 
pany  with  Mr.  Copeland,  I  was  not  astonished  to  find  it 
composed  of  coral.  On  that  short  visit  I  collected  all  the 
principal  corals  found  on  the  coast,  and  made  out  quite 
satisfactorily  the  general  structure  of  the  reef,  and  of  the 
chapeiroes  which  surround  it.  I  soon  felt  satisfied,  from  all 
that  I  could  learn  from  the  garoupa  fishermen,  that  the  Ab- 
rolhos  rccifes  were  true  coral  reefs,  and  my  companion  and 
I  were  on  the  point  of  visiting  them  when  we  received  let 
ters  from  Professor  Agassiz,  desiring  us  to  come  immedi 
ately  to  Rio,  to  return  home  with  the  expedition. 

At  Rio  I  found  Mouchez's  chart  of  the  Abrolhos,  on 
which  is  a  note  describing  the  reefs  of  the  Abrolhos  so 
clearly  as  to  leave  no  doubt  as  to  their  being  immense  coral 
reefs.  In  order  to  settle  the  question  I  returned  to  Brazil 
the  next  summer,  and  went  over  the  reef  grounds  of  the 
Abrolhos  as  thoroughly  as  my  time  and  the  slim  means  I 
could  command  would  allow.* 

The  coast  of  Brazil,  north  of  Cape  Frio,  has  quite  a  rich 
polyp-fauna,  but  very  few  of  the  madreporian  polyps  cross 
the  southern  tropic.  The  Bay  of  Rio  offers  only  insignifi 
cant  representatives  of  that  order.  All  the  specimens  I 
could  obtain  were  Astrangia3,  growing  in  small  scattered 

*  I  regret  exceedingly  that  I  have  not  yet  been  able  to  use  the  dredge  on  the 
Brazilian  coast;  but  I  hope  that  my  studies  of  Nature  in  the  tropics  are  only 
the  preface  to  more  thorough  and  detailed  explorations  in  the  future. 


192  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

cells,  on  stones  and  dead  shells  in  the  shallow  water  off  the 
Ilha  do  Governador.  Professor  Agassiz  tells  me  that  a  fine 
species  of  Porites  had  been  collected  at  Rio,  and  he  also 
informs  me  that  corals  have  been  found  at  Desterro,  in  the 
bay  of  Santa  Catharina,*  a  locality  which,  though  extra- 
tropical,  so  far  as  latitude  is  concerned,  is  not  really  so  in 
the  character  of  its  climate.  Many  species  of  Actinias  are 
found  in  the  harbor  of  Rio,  together  with  one  species  of  that 
curious  locomotive  halcyonoid,  Renilla  (R,  Dance  Verrill). 
On  the  masonry  of  the  new  Custom-House  docks  at  Rio  I 
collected  in  abundance  a  slender,  branching,  tender,  nodose 
halcyonoid  undetermined. 

As  we  go  northward  from  Cape  Frio  the  madreporians 
become  quite  common  on  the  rocky  shores,  though  the  spe 
cies  are  not  numerous,  and  they  are  associated  with  species 
of  Millepora,  Zoanthus,  and  Palythoa,  and  various  gorgo- 
nians.  I  have  already  called  attention  to  the  coral  fauna 
of  Guarapary  and  Victoria,  and  I  have  stated  that  I  have  no 
evidence  of  the  existence  of  any  banks  of  living  corals  or 
reefs  south  of  the  region  of  the  Abrolhos.  Here  the  condi 
tions  for  the  growth  of  coral  reefs  on  a  large  scale  are  re 
markably  favorable.  Over  large  areas  the  water  covering 
the  great  submarine  shelf,  on  which  the  islands  are  based, 
is  much  under  one  hundred  feet  in  depth,  and  it  is  warm 
and  pure.  So  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  very  large 
coral  reefs,  both  fringing  and  barrier,  are  found  here. 

When  the  tide  goes  out  there  is  seen  extending  round 
about  one  half  the  circumference  of  the  island  of  Santa 
Barbara  a  fringing  reef,  shown  in  the  little  map  on  page 
177. f  One  may  then  walk  out  on  its  level  surface  as  on  a 

*  Collected  by  Mr.  F.  Miiller. 

t  This  reef  is  also  represented  in  the  cut  on  p.  175. 


THE   ISLANDS   AND   CORAL   REEFS   OF   THE   ABROLHOS.      193 

wharf,  and  from  its  ragged  edge  look  straight  down  through 
the  limpid  green  water  and  see  the  sides  of  the  reef  and  the 
sea  bottom  covered  with  huge  whitish  coral-heads,  together 
with  a  wealth  of  curious  things  not  to  be  obtained  without 
a  dredge. 

The  surface  of  the  reef,  though  flat,  is  somewhat  irregu 
lar.  It  rises  but  a  short  distance  above  low-water  mark, 
and  it  is  overgrown  with  barnacles,  shells,  mussels,  and 
serpula-tubes,  together  with  large  slimy  patches  of  the 
common  leather-colored  Palythoa.  The  reef  abounds  in 
small  pools,  some  shallow  and  sandy,  others  deep,  rocky, 
and  irregular.  The  former  often  contain  scattered  masses 
of  corals,  particularly  Siderastraia  and  Favia,  and  they 
abound  in  small  shells,  crabs,  OphiurcB,  &c.  ;  but  the  deep 
pools  are  the  richest  in  life.  These  are  usually  heavily 
draped  on  the  sides  with  brilliantly  tinted  sea-weeds  and 
corallines,  the  bare  rock  being  gay  with  bryozoa  and  hy- 
droids.  The  most  common  coral  of  these  pools  is  Sider- 
astrcea  stellata  Yerrill.*  This  is  a  coral  growing  in  round 
ed  or  hemispherical  masses  with  small  cells.  Professor 
Verrill  states  that  it  "  differs  from  S.  radians  in  having 
larger  cells,  which  appear  more  open  ;  thinner  septa,  and 
consequently  wider  intervening  spaces ;  and  four  complete 
cycles  of  septa."  This  coral  rarely  ever  forms  masses  more 
than  six  inches  in  diameter,  though  I  have  collected  speci 
mens  8-12  inches  in  length.  Its  color  when  alive  varies 
much.  Usually  it  is  of  a  very  pale  pinkish  tint,  almost 
white,  and  it  is  not  unfrequently  blotched  with  deepened 
spots  of  the  same  color. 

It  is  often  seen  growing  in  tide-pools  in  the  reefs  and 
rocks,  with  only  just  water  enough  to  cover  it.  On  the  stone- 

*  Trans.  Conn.  Acad.,  1868,  p.  353. 

VOL.    I.  9  11 


194  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

reefs,  as  at  Guarapary  and  Porto  Seguro,  it  is  often  seen  in 
the  pools  exposed  for  several  hours  to  the  full  blaze  of  the 
sun,  and  of  course  liable  to  great  and  sudden  changes  of 
temperature.  These  pools  are  also  likely  to  be  very  much 
freshened  by  heavy  showers  while  the  tide  is  down.  Near 
Bahia  I  have  seen  it  growing  in  tide-pools  above  sea  level, 
and  to  which  the  waves  had  access  only  at  high  tide.  It 
seems  to  stand  exposure  to  the  air  with  impunity ;  for  on 
the  reef  at  Porto  Seguro  I  have  observed  it  exposed  to 
a  hot  sun  for  an  hour  or  more  during  a  spring  tide.  It 
is  not  confined  to  the  tide-pools,  but  occurs  also  on  the 
submerged  border  of  the  reef,  where  I  have  collected  it  in 
a  depth  of  3  -  4  feet  at  low  tide.  This  species  appears  to 
range  from  Cape  Frio  northward  beyond  Pernambuco. 
Professor  Verrill  has  separated  under  the  name  var.  con- 
ferta  what  appears  to  be  a  variety,  and  which  is  distin 
guished  by  having  in  the  central  portion  cells  deformed 
through  crowding.  These  cells  are  irregular,  and  deeper 
than  the  normal  ones  near  the  basal  margin.  Their  septa 
and  dividing  walls  are  more  elevated  and  convex,  and 
sometimes  adjacent  cells  are  united  by  the  breaking  down 
of  these  walls.  Usually  with  Siderastrcea  occur  two  spe 
cies  of  Favia, —  F.  gravida  Yerr.  and  F.  conferta  Yerr. 
The  former — a  solid,  heavy  coral  sometimes  flattened,  and 
incrusting  stones  or  dead  coral,  sometimes  in  round  masses 
rarely  more  than  three  or  four  inches  in  width  —  is  allied  to 
F.  Ananas  and  F.  Fragum  of  the  West  Indies ;  but  Profes 
sor  Yerrill  shows  that  it  has  more  spiny  costa3  than  either 
of  those  species,  while  the  septa?  are  narrower  and  sharper. 
The  other  species,  F.  conferta,  forms  small  hemispheri 
cal  masses  of  about  the  same  size  as  in  the  former  species. 
It  is  interesting  because  of  its  affinity  to  Goniastrcca,  while 


THE  ISLANDS   AND   CORAL  REEFS   OF   THE   ABROLHOS.      195 

it  stands,  according  to  Professor  Vcrrill,  in  some  respects 
intermediate  between  the  genera  Favia  and  Mceandrina. 
A  hemispherical  or  almost  globular  coral  with  large  cells, 
Acanthastrcea  Braziliensis  Vcrrill,  which  is  common  on 
the  border  of  the  reefs  below  low-water  mark,  is  rarely 
ever  found  in  the  tide-pools,  though  I  have  occasionally 
collected  it  from  the  deeper  ones.  On  the  edge  of  the  reef 
it  grows  to  a  very  large  size.  The  color  is  a  pale  gray, 
when  seen  in  the  water.  This  is  one  of  the  corals  most 
instrumental  in  building  up  the  reefs.  Occasionally  an  Aga- 
ricia,  closely  allied  to,  if  not  identical  with,  the  West  Indian 
A.  Agaricites  Edw.  and  Haime,  is  found  in  one  of  the  little 
pools.  It  is  a  thin,  spreading  coral,  attached  by  one  side, 
and  resembles  the  flat  woody  fungi  growing  on  dead  timber 
or  the  stumps  of  trees.  This  species  often  occurs  almost 
at  the  water  level.  At  Villa  Velha,  and  elsewhere,  it  is 
found  attached  to  Mussce.  It  appears  to  extend  along 
the  whole  coast  between  Victoria  and  Cape  Sao  Roque. 
The  above  are  the  principal  madreporian  corals  found  in 
the  tide-pools.  I  have  only  rarely  observed  millepores 
growing  in  the  pools,  and  these  either  in  the  deeper  or  the 
broad,  sandy-bottomed  ones  on  the  reef.  The  only  species 
was  M.  Braziliensis  Verrill,  a  species  easily  recognized 
among  the  Brazilian  milleporae  by  the  peculiar  form  of  its 
branches,  which  Professor  Verrill  has  described  as  "  erect, 
angular,  or  flattened,  or  forming  broad,  convoluted,  and 
folded  rough  plates,  with  acute  edges  and  summits  ;  the 
sides  covered  with  sharp,  irregular,  angular,  crest-shaped, 
and  conical  prominences  varying  much  in  size  and  elevation, 
often  becoming  continuous  ridges,  usually  standing  at  right 
angles  to  the  sides  of  the  branches."  Professor  Vcrrill 
suggests  that  this  may,  after  all,  be  only  a  variety  of  his  M. 


196  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

nitida,  but  I  have  never  seen  any  intermediate  forms. 
This  M.  Brazillensis  sometimes  grows  to  quite  a  large  size, 
and  it  ranges  along  the  whole  coast  from  the  Abrolhos  to 
Pernambuco.  On  the  submerged  border  of  this  reef  occur 
the  beautiful  species  of  Mussa  and  Symphyllia^  with  which 
Professor  Verrill  has  associated  my  name.* 

While  at  Santa  Barbara  the  weather  was  unfavorable  for 
an  examination  of  the  reef  below  low-water  mark,  and  my 
collections  were  principally  made  from  the  surface  of  the 
reef  and  from  the  tide-pools. 

Of  gorgonians  I  collected  the  same  species  as  I  found 
at  Victoria,  namely,  Hymenogorgia  quercifolia^  Eunicea 

*  Mussa  Harttii  Verrill  is  distinct  from  all  others  in  its  regular  cells  and 
its  costae,  which  are  furnished  with  strong,  sharp,  and  recurved  spines.  It 
grows  in  great  abundance  on  the  submerged  border  of  the  reefs  in  3  -  6  feet 
water  at  low  tide,  forming  beautiful  hemispherical  bouquets  a  foot  or  two  in 
diameter.  The  color  of  the  coral  when  alive  is  pale  whitish.  It  is  very  fra 
gile,  and  seems  to  prefer  sheltered  localities,  and  I  do  not  believe  that  it  grows 
on  the  outside  border  of  the  reefs,  which  is  exposed  to  the  heavy  surf.  It  occurs, 
also,  at  Pernambuco,  Porto  Seguro,  and  elsewhere.  With  it  is  found  another 
form,  which,  though  closely  resembling  it,  Professor  Verrill  considers  to  be 
generically  distinct,  and  has  called  Symphyllia  Harttii,  giving  the  same  specific 
name  in  case  it  should,  after  all,  prove  to  be  identical  with  the  above. 

t  This  Hymenogorgia  is  exceedingly  abundant  on  the  Brazilian  coast,  repre 
senting  in  the  Brazilian  polyp-fauna  the  RhipidogorgicB  of  the  West  Indian 
faurwx.  Professor  Verrill  describes  it  as  follows  :  "  It  forms  broad,  fan-shaped 
fronds,  often  two  feet  high  and  a  foot  broad,  consisting  of  broad,  foliaceous 
branches,  often  resembling  oak-leaves  in  form  ;  but  at  other  times  large,  oval, 
and  irregularly  incised  or  palmate.  The  branches  of  the  axis  are  slender  and 
rounded,  and  pass  through  the  fronds  like  the  midribs  of  leaves.  The  rather 
conspicuous,  flat  cells  are  scattered  over  the  sides  of  the  fronds."  The  color 
when  alive  varies  from  an  ashen-gray  to  a  light  yellow  or  pink.  The  latter 
color  often  deepens  in  spots.  It  grows  on  the  rocks  and  stone-reefs  in  clear 
water,  and  on  the  submerged  border  of  the  coral-reefs.  It  ranges  downward 
to  a  depth  of  5  -  6  feet  or  more.  It  is  apt  to  fade  in  drying.  On  the  fronds  a 
small  parasitic  Ovulum  (O.gibbosum)  is  often  found.  Professor  Verrill  has  more 
recently  restored  both  this  and  the  West  Indian  Rhipidogorgia  flabellum  to  the 
genus  Gorgonia. 


THE  ISLANDS   AND   CORAL  REEFS   OF   THE  ABROLHOS.      197 

humilis,*  and  Plexaurella  dichotoma.  f  The  shallow, 
sandy-bottomed  pools  over  the  reef  are  more  or  less  in- 
crusted  with  irregular  masses  of  a  calcareous  deposit,  con 
sisting  of  an  agglutination  of  serpula-tubes,  nullipores, 
bryozoa,  &c.,  which  usually  lie  in  rather  loose  flakes  on 
the  surface,  and  are  easily  turned  over  by  the  hand ; 
much  of  the  reef  itself  is  covered  in  the  same  way.  The 
under  sides  of  these  masses,  which  are  generally  concave, 
are  incrusted  with  beautiful  bryozoa,  and  form  hiding- 
places  for  great  numbers  of  species  of  marine  worms, 
chitons,  little  crustaceans,  ophiurans,  <fcc.  Beneath  this 
crust  nestle  in  great  abundance  several  interesting  species 
of  "  brittle  stars."  The  most  common  of  these  is  the 
large  Ophiura  cinerea  Lyman  ;  almost  quite  as  abun 
dant  are  the  pretty  Ophiothrix  violacea  Miiller  and 
Troschel,  and  Ophionereis  reticulata  Liitken.  The  other 
species  collected  on  the  reefs  were  Ophiomyxa  flaccida 
Liitken,  Ophiactis  Krebsii  Liitken,  and  Ophiolepis  pauci- 
spina  Miiller  and  Troschel. $  All  of  the  above  species  are, 
according  to  Professor  Verrill,  members  also  of  the  West 
Indian  fauna,  and  it  is  interesting  to  observe  the  occurrence 
here  of  the  huge  West  Indian  starfish,  Or  easier  g-igas 
Liitken,  of  which  I  collected  two  fine  specimens  at  Santa 
Barbara,  together  with  another  West  Indian  species,  Linckia 
ornithopus  Liitken.  The  sea-urchin,  common  at  Santa 

*  Eunicea  humilis  Edw.  and  Haime  is  a  gorgonian  easily  recognized  by  its 
growing  in  low,  densely  branched  clumps,  with  short  thick  branches,  the  color 
being  usually  lemon-yellow.  It  is  a  very  common  species  along  the  coast. 

t  Plexaurella  dichotoma  Kolliker  is  another  gorgonian,  with  few,  large,  round, 
blunt-tipped  and  thick-barked  branches  of  a  dark  brown  color  when  dry.  It 
is  as  common  as  the  preceding. 

J  In  the  collection  of  radiates  made  by  Mr.  Copeland  and  myself,  on  the 
Thayer  Expedition,  there  are  several  additional  species  of  Ophiurans. 


198  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

Barbara  and  along  the  Brazilian  coast,  Professor  Verrill 
considers  to  be  the  same  as  the  West  Indian  species  Echino- 
metra  Michelini  Desor,  and  I  am  unable  to  detect  any 
difference  between  the  Abrolhos  specimens  and  those 
which  I  have  collected  at  St.  Thomas.  Many  of  the  species 
of  shells  common  on  the  Brazilian  coast,  south  of  Bahia, 
appear  to  be  identical  with  West  Indian  forms,  and  one  is 
astonished  to  find  at  Pernambuco,  Bahia,  the  Abrolhos, 
and  Victoria  the  large  Cassis  Cameo*  a  shell  so  common 
in  the  West  Indian  waters.  Professor  Verrill  has  called 
attention  to  the  number  of  species  of  Echinoderms  in  the 
Brazilian  fauna  that  are  identical  with  West  Indian  forms, 
in  contrast  with  the  almost  complete  distinctness  of  the 
polyp-faunae  of  the  two  regions  ;  and  he  has  suggested  that 
an  explanation  might  be  found  in  the  fact  that  the  Echino 
derms  remain  longer  in  the  swimming  larval  form  than  the 
polyps,  and  may  be  carried  to  greater  distances  by  currents. 
There  is  no  chance  by  which  West  Indian  species  could  be 
carried  south  of  Cape  Sao  Roque,  owing  to  the  equatorial 
current  which  sets  along  shore  from  that  cape  northwest 
ward  across  the  mouth  of  the  Amazonas,  whose  fresh  waters 
must  have  long  presented  a  barrier  to  the  migration  south 
ward  of  shallow  water  species. f  It  is  interesting  to  observe 
that  on  the  Brazilian  coast,  south  of  Pernambuco  at  least, 
we  find  no  Diademas  or  Tripneustes,  forms  so  exceedingly 
characteristic  of  the  West  Indian  Echinoderm  fauna. 

The  material  composing  the  reef  is  an  exceedingly  hard, 
whitish  limestone,  ringing  under  the  hammer,  and,  so  far  as 
I  had  an  opportunity  to  examine  it, —  for  the  Brazilian  reefs 

*  Formerly  called  Cassia  Madagascariensis. 

t  Professor  Verrill  suggests,  however,  that  the  species  found  in  both  faunte 
mav  have  migrated  northward  from  Brazil. 


THE   ISLANDS  AND   CORAL   REEFS   OF   THE  ABROLHOS.      199 

are  never  broken  up  by  the  surf,  —  showing  no  distinct  trace 
of  organic  structure.  The  Santa  Barbara  reef  extends  around 
about  one  third  of  the  island,  and  on  the  northwestern  side 
it  reaches  across  to  the  "  Cemetery,"  so  that  when  the  tide 
is  down  that  islet  is  joined  to  the  main  island  by  a  broad,  level 
platform  of  rock,*  diversified  by  tide-pools,  and  forming  an 
excellent  collecting-ground  for  the  naturalist.  The  reef, 
built  up  principally  of  Acant/iastrcea,  Siderastrcea,  Ac.,  has 
completed  its  growth  on  arriving  at  low-tide  level,  the  up 
per  surface  being  still  farther  added  to  by  serpulas,  bryo- 
zoa,  corallines,  barnacles,  &c.,  together  with  the  coral-sand 
and  debris  of  shells  accumulating  on  the  reef. 

So  far  I  have  spoken  only  of  fringing  reefs,  but  there  are 
other  coral  structures  of  greater  interest  in  these  waters. 
Corals  grow  over  the  bottom  in  small  patches  in  the  open 
sea,  and,  without  spreading  much,  often  rise  to  a  height 
of  forty  to  fifty  or  more  feet,  like  towers,  and  sometimes 
attain  the  level  of  low  water,  forming  what  are  called  on 
the  Brazilian  coast  chapeirVes.^  At  the  top  these  are  usually 
very  irregular,  and  sometimes  spread  out  like  mushrooms, 
or,  as  the  fishermen  say,  like  umbrellas.  J  Some  of  these 
chapeiroes  are  only  a  few  feet  in  diameter.  A  few  miles 
to  the  eastward  of  the  Abrolhos  is  an  area  with  a  length  of 
nine  to  ten,  and  in  some  places  a  breadth  of  four  miles,  over 
which  these  structures  grow  very  abundantly,  forming  the 
well-known  Parcel  §  dos  Abrolhos,  on  which  so  many  vessels 
have  been  wrecked. 

*  The  reef  is  represented  in  the  woodcut  on  page  175,  but  the  cemetery  has 
unfortunately  been  omitted.  See  also  map  on  page  177. 

t  Singular  chapeirilo,  pronounced  sha/)-a-roim*,  the  ng  representing  a  strong 
nasal.  The  word  means  literally  a  biy  hat.  In  the  plural  it  is  chapeiroes,  pro 
nounced  shap-a-rd1 -erfls. 

\  The  Dutch  used  to  call  them  "  Jesuits." 

§  The  word  parcel  means  shoal  or  hidden  rock,  plur.  parcels. 


200  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

I  visited  in  my  launch  the  northwestern  part  of  this  reef, 
where  the  chapeiroes  were  sufficiently  scattered  to  allow  me 
to  sail  about  among  them. 

Among  these  chapeiroes  I  measured  a  depth  of  sixteen  to 
twenty  metres,  and  once,  while  becalmed,  I  found  twenty 
metres  alongside  one  chapeirao  and  three  metres  on  top. 
The  chapeiroes,  as  a  general  thing,  are  rarely  ever  laid  bare 
by  the  tide.  They  are  here,  as  elsewhere,  of  all  heights 
and  dimensions  ;  but  in  no  case  do  they  reach  low-water 
level,  nor,  according  to  the  testimony  of  the  fishermen  and 
whalers,  arc  they  ever  in  any  part  uncovered.  They  do  not 
coalesce  here  to  form  large  reefs  as  they  do  to  the  west  of 
the  islands.  When  the  weather  is  clear  and  cloudless  and 
the  water  calm,  these  chapeiroes  can  be  readily  distinguished 
at  a  considerable  distance.  The  surface  of  the  sea  appears 
to  be  flecked  by  shadows  from  a  sky  full  of  scattered 
cloudlets,  producing  a  striking  effect.  The  water,  being- 
shallow  and  clear,  and  with  a  sandy  bottom,  is  of  a  very 
light  greenish  tinge,  like  that  of  the  Niagara  River  at  Buf 
falo.  The  general  color  of  the  chapeiroes  is  brown,  from 
their  being  incrustcd  with  patches  of  Palythoa,  and  their 
position  is  marked  by  brownish  spots  on  the  surface  of  the 
sea.  In  the  daytime  a  launch  may  sail  in  safety  among 
tbcm  in  calm  weather,  and  a  small  vessel  may  traverse 
some  of  the  chapeirao  grounds  without  danger,  but  large 
ships  are  likely  to  find  themselves  in  a  labyrinth  from 
which  escape  is  not  easy.*  In  windy  weather  the  waves 
break  over  the  chapeiroes,  but  if  there  are  white  caps  be 
side,  and  a  cloudy  sky,  their  position  cannot  be  made  out, 
and  it  is  safest  to  keep  well  away  from  them.  In  stormy 
weather  there  is  nothing  to  mark  their  position,  and  they 

*  See  Chart  of  Abrolhos  by  Mouchez,  note. 


THE  ISLANDS  AND   CORAL  REEFS   OF   THE   ABROLHOS.      201 

are  very  dangerous.  Sometimes  vessels  striking  heavily  on 
small  chapeiroes  break  them  off,  and  escape  without  receiv 
ing  any  serious  injury,  as  has  been  remarked  by  Mouchcz. 
At  other  times  a  vessel  may  run  upon  one  of  these  struc 
tures  and  stick  fast  by  the  middle  of  the  keel,  to  the  amaze 
ment  of  the  captain,  who  finds  deep  water  all  around,  the 
vessel  being  perched  on  the  chapeirao  like  a  weather-cock 
on  the  top  of  a  tower.  Ordinarily  in  passing  the  Abrolhos 
vessels  and  steamships  go  outside  of  these  reefs  to  the  east 
ward  in  sight  of  the  islands.  It  is  not  easy,  however,  to 
calculate  one's  distance  from  a  point  at  sea,  and  especially 
from  a  light  by  night,  and  many  vessels,  notwithstanding 
the  lighthouse,  have  been  wrecked  upon  them.  West  of 
the  islands  there  is  deep  water,  and  no  chapeiroes,  and 
between  the  islands  and  the  Paredes  there  is  a  channel 
about  eight  miles  in  width,  with  plenty  of  water  and  no  ob 
structions.  The  best  way  in  passing  close  to  the  Abrolhos 
is  to  go  to  the  westward  of  the  islands,  where  one  may  run 
close  to  them  with  safety  even  in  the  night-time.  There  is 
then  no  danger  whatever,  and  the  sea  is  smoother.  On 
the  return  voyage  from  Rio,  September,  1867,  the  American 
steamship  "  South  America"  was,  at  the  suggestion  of  the 
writer,  taken  through  this  channel.  In  case  of  necessity, 
good  anchorage  may  be  found  close  in  by  the  island  of  Sta. 
Barbara  on  the  northern  or  southern  side,  as  the  direction 
of  the  wind  may  determine. 

Eight  miles  northwest  of  the  islands,  between  them  and 
the  mainland,  is  the  Parcel  das  Paredes,  literally,  The  Shoal 
of  the  Walls,  an  irregular  area  about  seventeen  miles  long 
from  north  to  south,  and  some  nine  miles  in  width,  occupied 
by  very  extensive  reefs  and  chapeiroes.  Mouchez  has  only 
given  the  general  outline  of  the  Parcel,  which  was  all  that 

9* 


202  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

was  really  necessary  for  his  chart.  The  reefs  within  the 
Parcel  are  not  drawn  from  an  actual  survey,  and  have  no 
approach  towards  accuracy. 

In  the  northern  part  of  the  Parcel  the  chapeiroes  so 
closely  unite  as  to  form  an  immense  reef,  which  has  grown 
upward  to  a  little  above  the  level  of  low  water,  and  is  quite 
uncovered  at  low  tide.  This  reef,  as  are  all  the  others,  is 
exceedingly  ragged  in  outline,  full  of  indentations,  and 
abounds  in  shallow  pools.  The  fishermen  describe  two 
channels  that  enter  the  reef  from  the  north,  and  almost 
separate  it  into  three  parts.  My  captain,  Jacob  Torgjusen, 
an  intelligent  Dane,  says  that  the  water  in  these  chan 
nels  is  quite  deep.  The  northeastern  part  of  this  reef  is 
called  the  Eecife  do  Lixo,  because  of  the  abundance  of  a 
shark-like  ray  called  the  lixo,  which  is  furnished  with  large 
crushing  teeth,  and  frequents  the  reef  in  search  of  shell 
fish,  on  which  it  feeds. 


RECIFE   DO   LIXO. 


I  spent  one  tide  on  the  Recife  do  Lixo,  during  the  full 
moon  of  the  13th  of  August,  1867,  when  the  reef  was  un 
covered,  and  examined  it  quite  carefully. 


THE   ISLANDS   AND   CORAL   REEFS   OF   THE   ABROLHOS.      203 

The  surface  of  the  reef  was  remarkably  even  in  height,  and 
covered  largely  by  calcareous  sand,  on  which  were  patches 
of  dead  coral  incrusted  with  millepores,  barnacles,  serpula?, 
&c.,  with  occasional  living  corals,  such  as  Sidcrastrcea  stellata 
and  Favia,  and  perhaps  a  Porites  solida.  The  dead  corals, 
nullipores,  <fcc.,  usually  forming  incrusting  masses  over  the 
sand,  so  loose  as  to  be  easily  turned  over,  affording  a  rich 
harvest  of  Ophiurans,  among  which  Ophiura  cinerea,  Ophi- 
onereis  reticulata,  and  Ophiothrix  violacca  were  especially 
abundant.  In  some  situations  sea-urchins,  Echinometra 
Michelini,  were  very  plentiful.  Volutes  and  Cassis  Cameo 
may  frequently  be  picked  up.  The  reef  is  not  very  rich 
in  shell-fish,  but  abounds  in  crustaceans.*  A  large  naked 

*  On  the  Thayer  expedition  Mr.  Copeland  and  I  collected  large  numbers  of 
crustaceans  at  all  the  principal  localities  on  the  coast  between  Rio  and  Bahia. 
On  my  second  visit  to  Brazil  I  was  too  much  engaged  in  geological  studies, 
and  in  my  examination  of  the  reefs,  to  make  extensive  collections.  The  few 
crustaceans  brought  home  from  the  second  journey,  my  friend,  Mr.  S.  I.  Smith, 
of  the  Sheffield  Scientific  School  of  New  Haven,  has  been  kind  enough  to 
examine  and  describe  ;  and  since  writing  the  above  he  has  published  a  paper  in 
the  second  volume  of  the  Transactions  of  the  Connecticut  Academy  of  Arts  and 
Sciences,  entitled  "  Notice  of  the  Crustacea  collected  by  Professor  C.  F.  Hartt  on 
the  Coast  of  Brazil  in  1 867,  together  with  a  List  of  the  described  Species  of  Bra 
zilian  Podophthalmia."  Mr.  Smith  enumerates  the  following  species  as  occur 
ring  on  the  reefs  of  the  Abrolhos  :  Milnia  bicornuta  Stimp.,  Mithraculus  coronatus 
Stimp.,  Mithrax  liispidus  Edwards,  Xantho  denticulata  White,  Cldorodius  Flari- 
dianus  Gibbes,  Panopeus  politus  Smith,  Panopeus  Harttii  Smith,  Eriphia 
gonacjrn  Edwards,  Goniopsis  cruentatus  De  Haan,  Dromidia  AntiUensis  Stimp., 
Petrochirm  rjranulatus  Stimp.,  Calcimts  sulcatus  Stimp.,  Clibanarius  AntiUensis 
Stimp.,  Alpheui  htterochelts  Say,  Gonodactylus  chiragra  Latreillc  (?). 

From  other  localities  were  described  the  following :  Callinectes  Dance  Smith, 
Pernambuco.  C.  ornatus  Ordway,  Caravellas.  C.  larvatus  Ordway,  Bahia. 
Ache.Ioufs  spinimanns  De  Haan,  Bahia.  A.  Ordicayi  Stimp.,  Bahia.  Uca  corda- 
ta,  Bahia.  Cardiosoma  quadratum  Saussure,  Pernambuco.  Clibanarius  vittatus 
Stimp.,  Caravellas.  C.  sdopetarins  Stimp.,  Caravellas.  Sryllarus  wquinoxialis 
Fabr..  Bahia.  Panulirus  echinatus  Smith,  Peruambuco.  Palcemon  Jamaicensis 


204        GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL  GEOGRAPHY. 

mollusk  (Aplysia)  *  four  to  five  inches  long,  grayish,  and 
ornamented  with  dark  rings  and  spots,  may  sometimes 
be  found  very  abundantly  on  these  reefs.  It  gives  out  a 
very  copious  deep  purple  fluid  when  handled.  Octopi  are 
very  common  in  the  cracks  and  crevices  of  the  reef.  The 
shallow  pools  are  often  very  rich  in  life. 

The  uniform  level  of  the  surface  of  the  reef  laid  dry  is 
very  remarkable.  So  very  even  and  unencumbered  is  it 
that  a  loose  coral  a  foot  in  diameter  turned  over,  or  a  cassis 
lying  on  the  surface,  attracts  attention  at  a  long  distance. 
The  reef  is  so  protected  that  the  waves  have  no  power  to 
break  off  its  edges  and  encumber  its  surface,  as  is  the  case 
with  the  coral  reefs  of  the  Pacific.  Sand,  resulting  from 

Olivier,  Penedo.  P.  forceps,  Edwards,  Para.  P.  ensiculus  Smith,  Para.  Peneus 
Brasiliensis  Latreille,  Bahia.  Xiphopeneus  Ilarttii  Smith,  Caravellas. 

The  list  of  the  Brazilian  Podophthalmia  is  too  long  to  be  inserted  in  this 
volume.  A  very  large  number  of  the  species  examined  by  Mr.  Smith  have 
been  identified  with  West  Indian  or  Floridan  forms.  Mr.  Smith  suggests  that 
one  reason  why  my  collection  is  so  much  richer  in  proportion  in  these  forms 
than  the  Brazilian  collections  heretofore  made,  may  be  because  my  collections 
were  made  on  the  reefs  and  rocky  parts,  while  the  others  were  made  at  Rio, 
where  there  are  no  coral-reefs.  The  collecting-grounds  at  Rio  are  rocky  as  well 
as  sandy.  I  suspect  that  the  true  reason  is  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that  the  crus 
tacean  fauna  changes  its  character  south  of  Cape  Frio. 

I  called  Mr.  Smith's  attention  to  the  name  Cardiosoma  Guanhumi,  in  which 
the  specific  name  appeared  to  have  been  derived  from  the  word  Guayamu  or 
Gudinumu,  the  Tupi  name  for  the  species.  The  former  is  the  way  it  was  written 
for  me  by  a  Brazilian,  but  Fonscca  gives  the  latter  form.  I  feel  quite  sure  that 
the  name  Guayamu  was  applied  to  several  distinct  species.  In  reference  to  Uca 
una,  Mr.  Smith  has  slightly  misunderstood  me.  I  do  not  remember  the  present 
vulgar  name.  Vca-una  I  found  in  Piso.  It  is  Tupi,  and  means  simply  black 
crab,  vya,  or  more  properly  Uca,  meaning  crab  and  una,  black. 

*  Mr.  J.  G.  Anthony  kindly  informs  me  that  the  species,  of  which  I  furnished 
numerous  specimens  to  the  Museum  of  Comparative  Zoology,  is  probably  A. 
Argo  d'Orb.  Sander  Rang  describes  a  large  species,  A.  Braziliensis,  from  the 
Bay  of  Rio.  Hist.  Nat.  des  Aplysies,  p.  55,  PI.  VIII. 


THE   ISLANDS   AND   CORAL   REEFS   OF   THE   ABROLHOS.      205 

the  decay  of  coral,  the  breaking  up  of  shells,  &c.,  accumu 
lates  very  slowly.  The  reef  has  grown  as  high  as  is  possi 
ble,  and  is  now  dead,  and  at  the  lowest  tide  it  is  not  more 
than  two  feet  out  of  water.  An  ordinary  tide  would  not 
uncover  it  completely.* 

An  irregular  raised  border,  consisting  principally  of  a 
growth  of  millepores,  serpulae,  barnacles,  <fcc.,  sometimes  a 
foot,  more  or  less,  in  height,  separates  this  part  of  the  reef, 
which  is  uncovered  at  low  water,  from  that  which  is  always 
submerged.  It  is  here  that  the  waves  break  at  low  water, 
and  this  favors  the  growth  of  these  animals  more  than  else 
where.  From  the  border  this  reef  generally  slopes  off 
gently  towards  the  edge  under  water,  where  it  drops  down 
perpendicularly  into  deep  water,  as  at  the  islands.  This 
submerged  border  at  the  Lixo  has  only  a  few  feet  of  water 
on  it  at  low  tide,  and  one  may  usually  wade  out  to  its  edge 
and  collect.  It  is  a  perfect  garden  covered  with  growing 
corals  of  large  size.  Here  grows  Acanthastr&a  in  large 
heads,  more  abundant  on  the  edge  of  the  reef.  Millepora 
nitida  Yerrill  forms  pretty  rosettes.  This  interesting 
species  is  thus  described  by  Professor  Verrill :  f  — 

"  Corallum  forming  low  rounded  clumps,  four  to  six 
inches  high,  consisting  of  short,  rapidly  forking,  rounded 
or  slightly  compressed  branches,  about  .4  to  .8  of  an  inch 
in  diameter,  which  have  remarkably  smooth  surfaces,  and 
are  obtuse,  rounded,  or  even  clavate  at  the  ends.  The 
larger  pores  are  small,  very  distinct,  round,  evenly  scattered 
over  the  surface,  at  the  distance  of  .06  to  .1  of  an  inch 
apart.  The  small  pores  are  very  minute,  numerous,  scat- 

*  The  height  of  the  reef  is  probably  in  part  due  to  the  recent  uprise  of  the 
land. 
t  Trans.  Conn.  Acad.,  1868,  p.  362. 


206  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

tered  between  the  larger  ones,  and  often  show  a  tendency 
to  arrange  themselves  in  circles  of  six  or  eight.  The  tissue 
is,  for  the  genus,  very  firm  and  compact."  The  color,  when 
alive,  is  light  pinkish.  This  species  is  abundant  on  the  sub 
merged  border  of  the  Recife  do  Lixo,  growing  in  from 
three  to  four  feet  of  water  at  low  tide.  Some  of  the  ro 
settes  I  collected  lay  quite  loose  and  without  any  attach 
ment  to  the  reef. 

Among  the  millepores  I  obtained  on  the  Brazilian  coast 
Professor  Verrill  has  distinguished  three  forms  which  so 
closely  agree  with  Millepora  alcicornis  Linnasus,  that  he 
has  separated  them  as  varieties  of  that  species.  One  of 
these,  var.  cellulosa  Verrill,  I  found  at  Pernambuco,  but  I 
did  not  see  it  alive.  Professor  Verrill  describes  it  as  fol 
lows  :  "  Corallum  consisting  of  numerous,  irregular,  rath 
er  short  branches,  arising  from  a  thick  base,  branches  pro 
liferous  or  digitate  at  the  ends,  the  last  division  short, 
mostly  compressed  and  acute  at  the  tips.  Some  of  the 
branches  occasionally  coalesce,  so  as  to  leave  small  open 
ings.  Cells  numerous,  crowded,  rather  large  for  the  genus, 
each  sunken  in  a  distinct  depression,  the  wall  rising  up 
into  an  acute  ridge  between  them,  texture  rather  open  and 
coarsely  porous." 

Another  form,  which  differs  from  the  other  in  its  "  some 
what  more  porous  texture,  and  the  greater  regularity  and 
more  scattered  arrangements  of  the  cells,"  together  with  its 
round  and  digitate  branches  and  branchlets,  having  three  to 
five  short  compressed  divisions  at  the  end,  Professor  Ver 
rill  has  referred  with  doubt  to  the  variety  digitata  of  Esper. 
The  third  variety  distinguished  by  having  the  branches 
in  the  same  plane,  and  coalescing  in  such  a  way  as  to  leave 
frequent  openings,  Professor  Verrill  has  referred  to  the 
M.fenestrata  Duch.  and  Mich. 


THE   ISLANDS   AND   CORAL  REEFS   OF  THE  ABROLHOS.      207 

Both  of  these  last  occur  abundantly  along  the  coast  from 
Cape  Frio  northward,  as  far  as  I  have  examined.  They 
seem  to  prefer  the  edge  of  the  reef,  where  they  form  beauti 
ful  broad  frills  of  a  light  yellowish-brown  or  pinkish  color. 
In  collecting  these  millepores,  I  was  struck  with  their  pow. 
erful  stinging  properties,  and  they  burned  me  sometimes 
like  hot  iron,  producing  a  sensation  precisely  like  that 
caused  by  the  Physalia,  or  our  Northern  jelly-fish,  Cyanea. 
I  was  stung  in  the  same  way  by  the  millepores  of  St. 
Thomas.  The  fishermen  who  were  with  me  on  the  Bra 
zilian  reefs  handled  these  corals  with  impunity,  but  they 
called  them  "  sea-ginger,"  and  told  me  that  they  were 
accustomed  to  play  practical  jokes  on  land-lubbers  by  per 
suading  them  to  taste  them.  I  presume  that  a  thin  and 
delicate  skin  makes  me  more  sensitive  than  most  persons 
to  the  stinging  properties  of  these  animals.* 

The  Sidcrastrcea  and  Favice,  already  described  in  speak 
ing  of  the  Santa  Barbara  reef,  are  found  on  the  Recife  do 
Lixo,  both  in  the  pools  and  on  the  submerged  border,  and 
associated  with  them  are  a  few  forms  which  appear  to  be 
somewhat  rare,  as  I  could  find  but  few  specimens  of  them. 
Among  these  is  the  species  of  Favia,  described  by  Professor 
Verrill  under  the  name  F.  leptopkylla,  an  interesting  spe 
cies  which  forms  large  hemispherical  corals,  easily  recog 
nized  by  "  the  very  open,  deep,  rounded  cells  ;  few,  thin, 
projecting  septa ;  and  thin  distinct  walls."  Another  and 
beautiful  coral  is  Heliastrcca  aperta  Verrill,  which  the 
following  description,  almost  in  Professor  Yen-ill's  own 
words,  will  serve  to  distinguish :  The  corallum  is  large, 
more  or  less  regularly  hemispherical,  sometimes  subspher- 

*  This  stinging  property  of  the  millepores  is  in  accordance  with  their  acele- 
phian  structure,  first  announced  by  Professor  Agassiz. 


208  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL    GEOGRAPHY. 

ical,  and  often  a  foot  and  a  half  in  diameter.  The  text 
ure  is  open  and  light,  which  character,  together  with  the 
thinner  and  more  acute  septas,  serves  to  separate  it  from 
H.  cavernosa  Edw.  and  Haime,  which  it  resembles  in  the 
large  size  and  prominence  of  its  cells.  These  in  H.  aperta 
are  circular,  large,  moderately  deep,  with  a  broad  central 
area,  the  margin  projecting  about  .08  inch  above  the  gen 
eral  surface.  Septa  in  three  complete  cycles,  narrow,  thin, 
subequal,  the  summits  considerably  projecting,  angular, 
acute,  the  inner  edges  nearly  perpendicular,  finely  toothed, 
often  with  a  distinct  paliform  tooth  at  the  base.  Columella 
well  developed,  of  loose,  open  tissue.  Costse  elevated  and 
thin,  rising  obliquely  upward  to  the  summits  of  the  septa, 
finely  serrate.  "Walls  very  thin,  inconspicuous.  This  spe 
cies  seems  to  be  more  abundant  in  the  Bay  of  Bahia  than 
in  the  Abrolhos  region,  and  I  have  frequently  seen  it  there 
in  the  heaps  of  corals  brought  from  the  Island  of  Itaparica 
to  the  city  for  burning  into  lime. 

A  very  pretty  Pectinia  (P.  Braziliensis  Edw.  and 
Haime)  is  another  of  these  apparently  rare  forms,  of  which 
I  have  found  only  a  single  specimen,  which  was  growing  on 
the  reef  borders  at  the  Lixo,  in  about  two  feet  of  water  at 
low  tide. 

On  the  Recife  do  Lixo  I  collected  a  few  specimens  of  a 
massive  Forties,  resembling  P.  Guadaloupensis  Duch., 
which  is  very  abundant  on  the  Porto  Seguro  coral-reef. 
It  is  sometimes  of  a  bright  sulphur-color,  though  it  varies 
very  much  in  tint.  Professor  Verrill  has  described  it  as  a 
new  species  under  the  name  P.  solida,  and  states  that  it 
differs  from  the  "West  Indian  forms  in  its  larger  and  deeper 
cells,  thicker  walls,  wider  and  more  crispate  septa,  and 
more  solid  structure. 


THE  ISLANDS   AND   CORAL   REEFS   OF   THE   ABROLHOS.      209 

The  beauty  of  the  polyp  growth  on  the  submerged  reef 
border  is  much  enhanced  by  the  great  luxuriance  of  the 
gorgonians,  which  are  the  same  as  those  already  ob 
served  elsewhere,  but  on  the  Lixo  reef  I  discovered  a 
beautiful  new  species,  described  by  Professor  Verrill  un 
der  the  name  of  Gorgonia  gracilis.  It  grows  in  little 
tufts,  about  six  to  eight  inches  high,  with  few  slender  and 
very  delicate  branches.  The  color  is  yellow  or  purple,  and 
in  rough  water  the  species  is  apt  to  be  overlooked  by  the 
collector,  from  its  resemblance  to  a  sea-weed.  Towards  the 
edge,  as  the  water  deepens,  the  reef  grows  more  and  more 
irregular.  It  is  full  of  holes,  and  almost  wholly  composed 
of  live  and  growing  corals,  which  furnish  a  very  insecure 
footing.  On  the  edge  and  sides  grow  immense  coral-heads, 
and  the  Mussce  are  especially  abundant.  The  outline  of 
the  border  is  exceedingly  ragged. 

The  height  of  the  perpendicular  edge  on  the  western 
side  of  the  Porto  Seguro  and  Lixo  reefs  varies  very  much, 
being  in  some  places  three  or  four  feet,  in  others  ten  feet  or 
more.  I  could  not  examine  it  on  the  eastern  side,  owing  to 
the  surf.  I  have  introduced  a  diagram,  showing  the  reef 
as  seen  in  section,  with  the  distribution  of  the  different 
species  of  corals  indicated.  Just  alongside  the  reef,  at  least 
on  the  western  side,  wherever  I  have  examined  it,  —  and 
the  same  holds  good  of  the  Porto  Seguro  reef,  —  the  bottom 
slopes  rapidly  away  from  the  reef-edge,  and  is  composed  of 
a  soft,  bluish,  calcareous  mud,  washed  from  the  top  of  the 
reef,  which  makes  the  reef  appear  much  lower  than  it  really 
is.  A  short  distance  away,  in  some  places,  a  depth  of  sev 
enty  to  eighty  feet  may  be  found.  The  diagram  on  page 
211  represents  a  sketch  of  the  edge  of  the  reef  of  the  Lixo, 
with  soundings  made  by  myself.  The  large  reefs  appear  to 


GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 


SECTION    ACROSS    BORDER   OF    LIXO    REEF. 

a.  Tide-pool  with  Sideraslrcea  stellata  and  Favia  gravida. 

b.  Low  dike-like  border  of  serpula-tubes,  barnacles,  &c. 
c  c.   Low-water  level  of  spring  tide. 

d.  Siderastrcea  stellata. 

e.  Acanthastrcea  JBraziliensis. 

f.  Heliastrcea  aperta. 

g.  Porites  solida. 

h.  Millepora  Brazillensis. 

i.  ^Millepora  nitida. 

£.  Varieties  of  Millepora  alcicornis. 

m.  Gorgonia  (Hymenogorgia)  quercifolia. 

n.  Plexaurella  dichotoma. 

o.  Gorgonia  gradlls. 

p.  Eunicea  humilis. 

r.  Mussa  narttii. 

have  been  formed  not  only  by  the  upward  growth  of  large 
patches,  but  by  the  filling  in  and  coalescence  of  chapeirocs, 
which  is  a  feature  not  hitherto  spoken  of  in  the  growth  of 
coral  reefs.  The  ponds  on  the  surface  of  the  reef  probably 
mark  the  intervals  between  the  chapciroes  where  the  filling 
in  is  nearly  complete  ;  though  they  may  in  some  cases 
mark  spots  where  the  corals  have  been  killed  by  the  drift 
of  sand. 


THE  ISLANDS   AND   CORAL   REEFS   OF   THE   ABROLHOS.      211 

I  visited  the  eastern  side  of  the  Lixo,  but  the  waves  were 
breaking  with  too  much  force  to  allow  me  to  see  anything 
distinctly.  The  boatmen  said  that  this  reef  drops  down 
perpendicularly  into  deep  water.  I  observed  no  sand 
banks  upon  it.  On  the  western  side  of  the  Lixo  there  are 


\  *: -_=-  _  isu  u  «  -_-. 


but  few  chapeiroes,  but  the  other  sides  are  bordered  by  an 
abundance  of  them,  and  they  stretch  off  southward,  forming 
with  two  other  reefs,  called  the  Recife  de  Leste  and  Recife 
da  Pedra  Grande,  the  rest  of  the  Parcel.  The  Recife  da 
Pedra  Grande  was  described  by  Jacob  as  being  like  a  wall, 
quite  straight,  some  three  miles  in  length,  and  only  two  or 
three  hundred  feet  wide.  Southwest  of  the  Paredes  are 
several  other  quite  large  reef-grounds.  One  of  the  reefs, 
Coroa  Yermelha,  has  become  converted  into  an  island  by 
the  heaping  up  of  sand  in  the  centre.  There  are  no  reefs 
or  chapeiroes  south  of  the  Mucury.  ^orth  of  the  Recife 
do  Lixo  are  some  small  reef-patches,  and  about  ten  miles 


212  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

northward,  a  little  to  the  west,  is  a  very  dangerous  reef- 
ground  some  three  miles  long,  and  one  and  a  half  to  two 
miles  wide,  called  the  Timbebas,  between  which  and  the'  reefs 
to  the  south  is  a  wide  open  channel  called  the  Itanhaem. 
This,  as  Mouchez  says  in  his  chart,  is  the  most  dreaded  of 
all  the  reefs,  because  it  is  situated  just  beyond  the  limit  of 
visibility  of  the  coast,  and  there  is  nothing  to  mark  its  po 
sition,  so  that  even  the  pilots  of  the  coast  keep  well  away 
from  it.  I  once  passed  close  to  it  in  the  steamer  Santa 
Cruz,  and  saw  the  waves  beating  over  it.  Small  coral 
patches  occur  close  in  shore  along  the  coast  northward  as 
far  as  to  Point  Carumba,  just  off  which  is  a  reef-ground 
eight  miles  long  and  three  to  five  miles  wide.  Mouchez 
says  that  the  reef  is  uncovered  at  low  tide  in  the  western 
part,  and  that  the  rest  of  the  ground  is  covered  by  chapei- 
r5es.  These  reefs  are  the  celebrated  Itacolumis.  The 
next  important  reef-ground  stretches  across  the  mouth  of 
the  Bay  of  Porto  Seguro.  I  found  the  reef  uncovered  over 
an  area  as  far  as  I  could  see  north  and  south  while  standing 
on  the  reef,  with  a  width  in  some  places  of  a  mile  ;  but  it 
was  exceedingly  difficult  to  judge  of  distance  on  so  plane  and 
monotonous  a  surface.  This  reef  is  surrounded  by  chapeiroes. 
The  same  line  of  reefs  extends  northward,  passes  the  low 
point  north  of  Porto  Seguro,  leaving  a  deep  channel,  allow 
ing  the  passage  of  steamers,  and  is  continued  across  the  bay 
of  Santa  Cruz,  as  is  represented  in  the  sketch-map  on  p.  233. 
In  the  summer  I  passed  close  to  the  northern  part  of  the 
reef  off  Santa  Cruz.  It  has,  like  the  other  principal  reefs, 
finished  its  growth,  and  is  in  part  converted  into  an  island, 
on  which  I  observed  a  few  mangrove-trees  growing.  A 
schooner  had  struck  on  the  outer  side  of  this  reef,  and  had 
afterwards  been  carried  over  and  sunk  erect,  just  behind  the 


THE  ISLANDS   AND   CORAL  BEEFS   OF   THE   ABROLHOS.      213 

reef.  Its  masts  were  standing,  showing  a  depth  alongside 
of  the  reef  of  about  thirty  feet.  Reef  patches  occur  along 
the  shore  in  the  vicinity  of  Camamu.  Quieppe  Island  is 
surrounded  by  them  on  all  sides,  and  a  little  bay  between 
'Camamu  and  Boyapeba  is  full  of  chapeiroes,  while  the  en 
trance  to  the  Barra  Carvalhos,  according  to  the  "  South 
American  Coast  Pilot,"  is  similarly  encumbered.  Along 
the  shores  of  Itaparica  Island  there  are  extensive  coral- 
banks,  from  which  coral  is  taken  for  the  purpose  of  being 
burned  into  lime  ;  and  at  low  tide  coral  is  largely  collected 
from  banks  lying  off  Periperi,  on  the  Bahia  Railroad,  to 
which  place  it  is  brought  and  burned.  I  saw  large  quanti 
ties  of  it  at  Bahia  and  Periperi.  The  corals  were  of  the  same 
species  as  are  common  on  the  Abrolhos  reefs,  but  Heliastrcea 
was  more  common.  Limestone  is  very  scarce  on  the  Bra 
zilian  coast,  and  corals  are  largely  used  for  making  lime. 
They  call  the  coral pedra  de  cal*  in  Brazil,  for  this  reason. 
Still  going  northward,  I  am  not  aware  that  any  coral- 
patches  are  to  be  found  until  we  reach  Macei6,  but  in  the 
harbor  of  this  town  I  examined  quite  an  extensive  one,  which 
lies  some  distance,  perhaps  a  mile,  off  the  town,  and  at  low 
tide  is  uncovered  for  a  large  irregular  space.  Its  surface  is 
flat,  but  irregular,  composed  of  dead  corals,  and  is  full  of 
holes.  Walking  out  to  the  edge  of  the  reef,  where  the  sea 
was  breaking  heavily,  I  found  it  exceedingly  rough.  I  was 
unable  to  see  much,  as  the  tide  rose  rapidly,  flowing  over 
the  reef,  and  I  had  to  wade  back  half  a  mile  over  the 
rough  surface  to  my  boat.  I  saw  very  few  live  corals  in 
the  ponds. f  There  were  a  very  few  little  Siderastrcece,  and 

*  It  would  not  be  worth  stating  here  that  the  red  coral  does  not  occur  on  the 
Brazilian  coast,  if  it  were  not  that  from  my  use  of  the  term  coral  the  report  had 
been  circulated  that  I  had  discovered  a  reef  of  red  coral  at  the  Abrolhos  ! 

t  Professor  Agassi/,  tells  me  that  he  has  fine  millepores  from  Maceid. 


214  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

an  occasional  dwarfed  Acanthastrcea.  Echinometrce  were 
abundant,  and  English  sailors  were  spearing  the  large 
Aplysica  for  the  sake  of  spilling  their  purple  ink.  In  the 
hands  of  a  sailor  I  saw  a  beautiful  Valuta  like  V.  musica, 
and  I  collected  a  specimen  of  Linckia  ornithopus.  My 
boatman  said  that  on  the  outer  edge  of  the  reef  large 
coral-heads  grew,  and  that  these  were  collected  and  brought 
on  shore  for  burning  into  lime. 

From  the  lighthouse  at  Macei6  the  reefs  could  be  seen 
extending  in  an  irregular  line  along  the  shore  northward 
many  miles.  In  the  vicinity  of  Pernambuco  are  patches  of 
growing  coral,  as  Dana  has  remarked.  I  have  specimens 
from  these  patches,  but  I  was  prevented  from  visiting  them. 
I  know  of  no  one  who  has  examined  the  reefs  north  of  Per 
nambuco  with  a  view  to  scientific  results. 

The  Roccas  are  a  very  dangerous  cluster  of  reefs  in  the 
latitude  of  Fernando  de  Noronha,  noted  for  its  annular 
shape.  From  the  charts  of  the  Roccas,  together  with  what 
I  have  learned  from  those  who  have  visited  them,  they 
must  be  true  coral  reefs. 

Though  there  is  a  general  resemblance  between  the  Brazil 
ian  and  "West-Indian  polyp  faunae  in  the  representative  spe 
cies  of  Siderastrcca,  Favia,  Porites,  Plexaurella,  &c.,  &c.,  yet 
one  who  has  collected  in  the  West  Indies,  as  at  St.  Thomas, 
for  instance,  or  Florida,  is  much  struck  with  the  absence 
of  Madrepora,  Mccandrina,  Diploria,  Manicina,  Cladocora, 
Oculina,  and  other  genera  characteristic  of  the  West-Indian 
fauna.  The  Brazilian  reefs  are  built  up  by  a  very  few  spe 
cies,  among  which  Acanthastrcea  Brazlliensis  appears  to  be 
the  most  common,  together  with  Siderastrcccc  and  other 
massive  forms  ;  but  the  Milleporcc  and  Musses  must  con 
tribute  more  or  less  to  their  growth. 


PROVINCE   OF   BAHIA.  215 


CHAPTER    Y. 

PROVINCE  OF  BAHIA.  —  COAST  SOUTH  OF  SAO  SALVADOR. 

The  Tertiary  Lands  between  the  Rivers  Mucury  and  Peru  hype ;  their  Vegeta 
tion,  &c.  —  Colonia  Leopoldina  and  its  Coffee  Plantations.  —  Villa  Vicosa.  — 
The  Canal  joining  the  Rivers  Peruhype  and  Caravellas.  —  Formation  of 
Beaches  and  Beach  Ridges.  —  Coast  between  Caravellas  and  Porto  Seguro.  — 
Monte Pascoal.  —  Porto  Seguro  and  its  Recife,  or  Consolidated  Beach.  —  Santa 
Cruz  and  its  Reef.  —  Coast  northward  to  the  Jequitinhonha ;  the  Lagoa  do 
BrafO,  Campos,  &c.  —  The  Canal  Po-assii  and  the  Rio  da  Salsa.  —  Mangrove 
Swamps  between  the  Jequitinhonha  and  Pardo.  —  Cannavieiras.  —  The  Salt 
Trade  of  the  Jequitinhonha.  —  Description  of  the  lower  Part  of  the  Rio 
Pardo;  Cacao  Plantations,  &c.  —  Coast  northward  to  Ilhc'os.  —  Prince  Neu 
"NVied's  Description  of  the  Country  between  Ilhe'os  and  Conquista,  Possoes, 
and  Cachoeira  ;  the  Forests,  Campos,  Social  Plants,  &c.  —  Ilheos.  —  Rio  and 
Lngoa  Itahype.  — Dead  Coral  Banks.  —  Rio  das  Contas.  —  Bay  of  Camamu. 
—  Turfa  Deposits.  —  Villa  de  Camamu.  —  Coast  northward  to  the  Bahia 
de  Todos  or  Santos.  —  The  Bay  of  All  Saints  described.  —  Ilha  Itaparica.  — 
Rio  Jaguanpe  and  Nazareth.  —  Rio  Paraguassii. — Description  of  River 
below  Cachoeira.  —  The  Tram-road — Sant'  Amaro  and  the  Agricultural 
Institute. 

THE  Rio  Peruhype  has  its  source  in  the  Serra  dos 
Aimores,  a  few  miles  north  of  Santa  Clara,  and  flows  in 
a  deep,  narrow  valley,  worn  for  the  greater  part  of  the  dis 
tance  through  the  coast  tertiary  belt.  It  is  not  more  than 
fifty  miles  in  length,  and  is  consequently  an  insignificant 
stream.  Between  the  Peruhype  and  the  Mucury  the  lands 
are  almost  wholly  tertiary,  though  between  the  mouths  of 
these  two  rivers  there  is  a  strip  of  sand  and  marsh.  I  owe 
to  the  kindness  of  my  friend  Sr.  Schlobach  a  profile  of  a 
railroad  line  surveyed  by  him  to  connect  the  Philadelphia 


216  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

Road  at  Santa  Clara  with  the  Peruhype  above  Villa  Vic,osa, 
which  profile  is  of  much  interest,  since  it  shows  that  the 
surface  of  the  tertiary  beds  slopes  very  regularly  from  the 
serra  to  the  sea, —  a  slope  which  I  believe  to  depend  on 
the  slope  of  the  sea  bottom  on  which  the  beds  were  de 
posited,  though  it  is,  in  part  at  least,  due  to  a  thickening 
of  the  beds  towards  the  serra.  The  country  between  the 
two  rivers  forms  a  great  wooded  plain  ;  but  the  forests 
are  by  no  means  so  luxuriant  in  their  appearance  as  on  the 
Sao  Matheos  or  Doce.  The  soil  is  sandy,  weak,  and  dry, 
though  on  the  slopes  of  river  valleys  it  is  productive,  and 
the  bottoms  of  the  valleys  are  covered  by  a  very  rank  growth. 
This  region  is  traversed  by  many  little  streams,  all  of 
which  have  cut  for  themselves  deep  valleys  or  canons  with 
very  steep  sides.  The  upland  forests  furnish  many  valua 
ble  woods,  and  rosewood  is  extensively  cut  both  on  the 
Peruhype  and  Mucury.  In  some  parts  the  forest  is  very 
sparse  of  underbrush,  but  in  others  it  is  so  matted  and  tan 
gled  with  bamboos  (Taquaras)  and  young  Airi  palms 
(Astrocaryum  Airi  Mart.)  as  to  be  almost  impenetrable. 
There  are  large  marshy  areas  on  this  plain,  and  these  are 
in  part  flooded,  some  of  them  only  during  the  rainy  season, 
when  they  form  shallow  lagoons.  The  vegetation  of  the  al 
luvial  lands  bordering  the  little  streams  is  luxuriant  beyond 
description.  Here  one  finds  an  abundance  of  Palmitos 
(Euterpe  edulis  Mart.)  and  beautiful  tree-ferns.  The  Boto- 
cudos  still  hold  the  country,  and  I  saw  their  deserted 
ranches  every  few  miles  along  the  path.  The  forest 
abounds  in  game.  Queixadas,  coititus,  antas,  onc,as,  mon 
keys,  and  birds  of  every  description  are  very  numerous. 

Nowhere  on  the  route  did  I  see  any  good  exposure  of  the 
tertiary  beds,  but  in   the    descent    into   the   river  valleys 


PROVINCE   OF  BAHIA.  217 

I  repeatedly  saw  the  drift,  which  here  as  elsewhere  is  com 
posed  of  red  clay  full  of  fragments  of  quartz.  All  the 
streams  are  "  black-water,"  and  so  is  the  Peruhype.*  On 
this  last  river  a  colony  of  Germans,  together  with  some 
natives  of  other  countries,  was  established  many  years  ago. 
It  is  called  Colonia  Leopoldina,  and  consists  of  a  consider 
able  number  of  fazendas  situated  on  both  sides  of  the  river 
for  several  miles  above  Sao  Jose*,  the  head  of  navigation  for 
steamers.  Some  of  these  fazendas  are  very  large  and  valu 
able,  as  that  of  the  late  Sr.  Joao  Flach  for  instance.  The 
cultivated  lands  are  situated  on  the  very  edges  and  slopes 
of  the  chapadas,  and  they  were  formerly  very  productive.! 
Coffee  is  the  staple  product,  and  is  noted  in  Brazil  as  being 
of  very  superior  quality,  passing  by  the  name  of  Cafe"  de 
Caravellas.  The  trees  are  not  allowed  to  grow  to  their  full 
height,  but  are  trimmed  down,  so  that  the  picking  is  easily 
done  by  hand  from  the  ground.  Six  feet  or  thereabouts 
appears  to  be  the  average  height  of  the  coffee-trees  of 
this  region.  The  trees,  when  trimmed  in  this  way,  are 
flat-topped  with  pendant  branches,  and  a  cafezal,  or  coffee 
plantation,  at  the  colony  is  a  very  pretty  sight.  Mandioca, 
maize,  cotton,  and  other  Brazilian  products  are  cultivated 
largely,  and  one  riding  through  the  fazendas  sees  here  as 
elsewhere  the  orange,  banana,  lime,  citron,  pine-apple,  &c. 
The  mamao,  a  species  of  Carica,  furnishing  a  large  and 
savory  fruit  full  of  seeds,  is  frequently  seen,  though  it  is  to 
be  found  almost  everywhere  along  the  coast,  growing  in 
corners  of  fields  and  gardens.  The  climate  of  the  colony 

*  Von  Tschudi  says  (Reisen,  &c.,  Vol.  II.  p.  357)  that  the  water  of  fhe 
Peruhype  at  Villa  Vicosa  is  deep  brown,  and  that,  churned  up  by  the  paddle- 
wheels  of  a  steamer,  it  looks  like  foaming  porter. 

t  These  soils  become  rapidly  exhausted,  and  many  of  the  old  fazendas  are 
very  nearly  worn  out. 

VOL.  i.  10 


218  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

is  very  unhealthy,  especially  for  foreigners,  but  it  is  far 
superior  to  that  of  the  Mucury  below  Santa  Clara.  The 
Peruhype  is  navigable  as  far  as  Sao  Josd  for  coasting 
steamers,  which,  however,  do  not  enter  the  river  at  its 
mouth,  but  by  means  of  a  natural  canal  which,  through  a 
very  extensive  swampy  tract,  connects  the  Peruhype  with 
the  Caravellas  River.  The  bar  at  the  mouth  of  the  river 
is  very  bad,  and  is  rarely  crossed  by  any  except  very  small 
vessels.  The  entrance  at  Caravellas  is  good.  Since  the 
navigation  of  the  Mucury  is  so  difficult,  and  its  bar  so  bad, 
it  has  been  proposed  to  extend  the  Minas  Road  across  the 
plains  to  the  Peruhype  below  the  colony,  and  ultimately 
make  it  a  railroad.  The  only  difficulty  in  the  way  of  build 
ing  such  a  road  would  be  that  of  bridging  the  deep  valleys 
of  the  streams,  which  would  require  very  high  viaducts  or 
bridges.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  this  project  will  one  day 
be  accomplished.  Villa  Vic,osa,  a  town  of  some  five  hundred 
or  one  thousand  inhabitants,  is  situated  on  the  right  bank 
of  the  Peruhype,  at  a  distance  of  about  four  miles  from 
the  sea,  and  five  or  six  below  Sao  Jose"  da  Colonia  Leo- 
poldina.  The  lands  of  the  vicinity  are  very  productive  in 
mandioca,  and  a  large  quantity  of  farinha  is  exported.* 
From  the  mouth  of  the  Peruhype  to  that  of  the  Caravellas 
the  shore  consists  of  a  long  sea-beach  broken  only  by  one 
river-mouth, —  Barra  Nova.  From  Villa  Vic,osa  to  the 
Villa  de  Caravellas  a  rather  narrow  tidal  canal  extends 

*  The  water  used  for  drinking  at  Villa  Vir-osa  is  very  bad.  Yon  Tschudl 
says  that  it  is  collected  in  shallow  holes  sunk  in  a  sandy  grass-grown  plain 
southwest  of  the  town.  When  first  drawn  its  taste  is  very  disagreeable,  but  it 
becomes  potable  after  standing  a  day  or  two.  All  the  towns  along  the  coast, 
built  on  the  sands  of  the  sea-shore,  as  a  general  thing  have  bad  water.  This 
is  the  case  at  Caravellas.  It  is  needless  to  say  that  the  want  of  pure  water  is 
one  cause  of  the  prevalence  of  sickness  in  these  places. 


PROVINCE   OF   BAHIA.  219 

parallel  with  the  coast.  "Westward  of  this,  as  Von  Tschudi 
has  remarked,  is  the  terra  firma,  —  the  tertiary  lands 
trending  off  northward  at  a  greater  or  less  distance  from 
the  canal.  This  stream,  in  which  the  tide  ebbs  and  flows, 
and  whose  waters  are  salt,  is  sufficiently  deep  to  allow  the 
passage  of  the  coast  steamers.  Between  the  canal  and 
the  sea  the  lands,  which  are  but  little  above  the  water,  con 
sist  in  part  of  sandy  flats  covered  with  forest  or  cocoa-palm 
groves,  but  the  greater  part  appears  to  be  an  immense 
mangrove  swamp,  similar  to  that  which  lies  between  the 
Jequitinhonha  and  Pardo  to  the  north,  and,  like  this  last, 
it  is  intersected  by  a  network  of  narrow  canals,  which 
have  never  been  mapped.  Gerber's  map  represents  this 
area  as  a  cluster  of  small  islands,  with  the  sea  penetrating 
from  the  coast  through  numerous  canals,  which  probably 
misled  Von  Tschudi,  who  also  describes  it  as  an  archipelago. 
The  so-called  Rio  Caravellas  is  only  a  narrow  estuary,  which 
penetrates  into  the  interior  for  a  distance  of  about  twelve 
miles.  From  this  estuary  near  Caravellas  the  canal  extends 
southward  to  Vic,osa,  while  at  its  head  empty  the  Rio  Cara 
vellas  and  the  Rio  da  Fabrica. 

The  water  off  this  coast  is  very  shallow,  and  along  shore 
it  is  usually  very  turbid.  Outside  are  the  very  extensive 
coral-banks,  described  in  the  preceding  chapter,  which  not 
only  break  the  force  of  the  ocean  waves,  but  give  rise  to  a 
system  of  currents  whose  force  and  direction  depend  almost 
entirely  on  the  winds.  Owing  to  the  protection  of  the  shores 
from  such  powerful  wave  action  as  obtains  almost  everywhere 
else  on  the  coast,  we  find  here  a  sloping  sand-beach,  rising 
to  but  a  few  feet  above  high-water,  and  unaccompanied  by  a 
beach-ridge.  The  water  along  the  coast  is  ordinarily  as 
smooth  and  calm  as  that  of  an  inland  lake.  Near  the  mouth 


220  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

of  the  Caravellas  and  a  few  miles  to  the  southward,  I  ob 
served  dead  mangroves  standing  in  clumps  in  the  water  just 
outside  the  land.  A  short  distance  south  of  the  Mucury,  as 
already  remarked,  I  observed  dead  trees  still  erect,  and 
rooted  below  high-water  mark.  It  would  seem  that  there 
has  been,  within  a  few  years,  a  slight  sinking  of  this  part 
of  the  coast.  The  mangrove  swamps  are  sometimes  formed 
in  depressions  caused  by  the  wearing  away  of  the  lower 
lands  by  the  sea  ;  but  this  is  very  rare.  They  almost  al 
ways  occupy  tracts  protected  from  the  waves  by  sand-beaches 
or  otherwise,  and  rilled  up  with  sand-banks,  or  which,  by 
the  gradual  rise  of  the  land,  have  been  brought  so  near  the 
surface  that  the  seeds  of  the  mangrove  take  root.  If  one 
examines  the  sea  bottom  along  the  coast  he  will  find  that, 
especially  in  the  vicinity  of  large  rivers,  such  as  the  Sao 
Francisco,  Pardc,  Jcquitinhonha,  Doce,  Parahyba  do  Sul, 
and,  as  a  general  rule,  off  flat  lands  everywhere,  the  bottom 
slopes  away  very  gradually,  and  consists  of  beds  of  sand, 
and  but  rarely  of  mud,  because  such  fine  material  is  almost 
invariably  swept  out  with  the  current  into  deep  water. 
A  beach  must  of  course  be  formed  within  the  limits  of 
wave  action.  If  these  correspond  with  the  edge  of  the 
land,  then  the  beach  will  skirt  it,  but  where,  as  is  frequently 
the  case,  the  water  is  so  shallow  that  the  waves  break  at  a 
distance  from  the  shore,  there  will  shortly  be  formed,  along 
this  line,  a  ridge  of  sand,  which  will  gradually  increase  in 
height  until  at  last  it  will  appear  above  water,  forming  a 
narrow  strip  parallel  to  the  shore.  This  may  become  so 
high  as  to  form  a  permanent  barrier,  enclosing  behind  it  a 
lagoon  of  shallow  water.  Sometimes  the  formation  of  these 
beaches  is  due  to  the  action  of  storms  of  extraordinary 
violence,  which  have  caused  the  waves  to  disturb  the  bottom 


PROVINCE   OF   BAHIA.  221 

farther  than  usual  from  the  shore.  In  the  slow  rise  of  a 
coast  bordering  shallow  water  the  line  of  surf  action  would 
be  gradually  removed  from  the  shore.  If  the  slope  of  the 
bottom  is  uniform,  and  there  are  no  storms,  the  effect  may 
be  to  add  slowly  to  the  coast  by  a  constant  throwing  up  of 
sands  by  the  waves  ;  and  this  is  beautifully  illustrated  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Jequitinhonha  by  the  plains  stretching 
southward  from  Belmonte.  These  plains  consist  of  a  great 
number  of  parallel  beaches,  one  lying  in  front  of  the  other, 
and  traceable  for  miles ;  but  even  here  the  growth  of  the 
coast  has  not  been  uniform,  and  occasionally  an  increased 
violence  of  the  surf  has  thrown  up  a  ridge  a  few  yards  or 
rods  outside  of  that  last  formed,  making  a  narrow  ditch- 
like  lagoon,  like  a  river,  running  parallel  with  the  shore. 
A  lagoon  of  this  kind  runs  behind  the  beach  along  the 
present  shore  line  like  a  strip  of  insertion.  If  the  water  is 
very  shallow,  there  will  be  no  regular  beach  ridge,  but  there 
may  be  dunes  if  the  sand  is  light  enough  to  be  raised  by 
the  wind  ;  but  if  the  water  is  so  deep  that  the  whole  force 
of  the  waves  is  expended  on  the  shore  line,  breaking  in 
a  single  line  of  surf,  then  we  may  expect  to  find  a  high 
ridge  accompanying  the  beach,  —  a  ridge  which  has  owed 
its  origin  primarily,  it  may  be,  to  some  very  heavy  storm, 
and  secondarily  to  the  joint  action  of  the  winds  and  waves 
in  piling  up  the  sand.  This  is  beautifully  seen  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Jequitinhonha.  At  Belmonte  the  sea  is  ex 
ceedingly  shallow,  consequently  the  shore  is  low  and  with 
out  a  ridge.  Going  southward  the  water  deepens,  the  surf 
is  heavier,  and  a  well-defined  ridge  begins,  growing  higher 
and  higher  the  farther  south  we  go. 

Along  the  coast  of  Long  Island,  and  of  the  Middle  and 
Southern  Atlantic  States,  we  have   these  phenomena  well 


222  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

exhibited.  "When  between  the  rivers  the  shore  is  flat,  such 
a  beach  may  extend  from  the  mouth  of  one  to  that  of 
the  other,  while  the  lagoon  behind  may  form  a  communi 
cation  like  a  canal  between  the  two,  or  the  mouths  of  the 
two  rivers  may  be  united  by  a  more  or  less  wide  strip  of 
marsh  and  lagoon.  These  lagoons  are  liable  to  be  filled  up 
by  sand  and  silt  carried  down  by  streams  from  the  higher 
grounds.  "When  the  bottom  is  brought  up  to  the  level  of 
low  tide,  or  a  little  above,  the  seeds  of  the  mangrove  take 
root,  and  the  shoal  soon  becomes  covered  with  vegetation. 
Among  the  roots  of  the  mangroves  the  silt  of  the  water  is 
deposited,  and  the  sand-bank  is  overspread  by  a  layer  of 
soft  mud,  which  may  increase  in  thickness  until  the  bank 
is  covered  only  at  high  water.  The  mangrove  in  Brazil, 
Florida,  and  elsewhere  is  a  very  efficient  agent  in  the  silt 
ing  up  of  marsh  lands  and  swamps ;  but  it  is  not  alone  in 
this  work.  It  flourishes  only  in  salt  or  brackish  water,  but 
after  a  time  much  of  this  swamp  land  becomes  covered 
with  fresh  water,  when  arborescent  arums,  reeds,  rushes, 
coarse  grasses,  and  other  aquatic  plants  tend  all  the  more 
to  choke  up  and  stagnate  the  water,  and  often  form  rafts  of 
vegetation,  on  which  small  trees  grow,  as  is  the  case  in  the 
fresh-water  lakes  and  lagoons  of  the  vicinity  of  Barra  Secca 
and  the  rivers  Sao  Matheos  and  Doce. 

On  the  coast  north  of  Rio  the  course  of  the  rivers  is  at 
right  angles  with  the  coast.  At  the  mouth  of  very  many 
of  them  a  branch  runs  off  both  north  and  south,  parallel 
with  and  close  to  the  shore,  and  in  some  cases  uniting  with 
a  similar  branch  from  a  neighboring  river,  though  usually  an 
impassable  swamp  prevents  a  complete  communication.  In 
some  cases  these  are*  only  lagoons  fed  by  the  tide  and  rains ; 
but  occasionally  it  is  a  little  river,  which,  having  come 


PROVINCE   OF  BAHIA.  223 

down  to  the  shore,  is  obliged  to  flow  for  several  miles  be 
hind  the  beach  ridge  before  it  can  find  an  exit  to  the  sea  in 
the  mouth  of  a  larger  river.  An  example  of  this  kind  is  the 
Itahunas,  already  described.  All  the  rivers  flowing  from  the 
interior  are  white-water  rivers,  but  the  Itahunas,  probably 
having  its  source  in  the  swamps  of  the  chapadas  east  of  the 
serras,  is  a  black-water  river.  So  also  is  the  Mariricu,  and  so, 
in  general,  are  all  the  little  rivers  which  rise  either  in  the 
fresh-water  swamps  along  the  shore  or  come  from  the  cha 
padas  eastward  of  the  serras.  Advantage  has  been  taken, 
in  numerous  instances,  of  the  streams  and  lagoons  of  the 
low  lands  to  cut  canals  uniting  settlements  lying  on  two 
rivers ;  and  a  favorite  project  with  some  Brazilian  states 
men  has  been  that  of  opening  a  line  of  canals,  extending 
along  the  coast  from  Santa  Cruz,  in  the  province  of  Espirito 
Santo,  northward  to  Caravellas.  I  consider  the  project  as 
impracticable,  and  that  good  roads  over  the  plains  of  the 
chapadas  would,  in  most  cases,  be  far  preferable. 

The  town  of  Caravellas  is  of  small  size.  It  owes  its  im 
portance  to  its  being  the  port  of  the  surrounding  country, 
and  to  its  whale-fishery,  described  in  the  last  chapter.  The 
town  is  built  on  a  sand-bank  a  few  miles  above  the  mouth 
of  the  river,  and  on  the  northern  side.  In  the  vicinity  are 
large  groves  of  cocoa-palms. 

Contrary  to  the  general  rule,  the  river  Caravellas  just  be 
fore  reaching  the  coast  makes  a  bend  to  the  northward,  and 
enters  the  sea  very  obliquely.  The  channel,  narrow  and 
marked  by  poles,  continues  for  several  miles  northeastward 
beyond  the  Ponta  da  Balea.  There  is  another  narrow  chan 
nel  running  eastward,  and  still  another  southward,  which 
last  doubles  sharply  round  the  point  on  the  southern  side 
of  the  river.  Between  these  channels  are  large  sand-banks, 
which  are,  in  some  cases,  visible  even  at  high  water. 


224  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

The  northward  bend  of  the  river  at  its  mouth  seems  to  be 
owing  to  the  prevalence  of  a  northward-setting  current. 
The  variation  of  the  current  through  the  tides  is  most  prob 
ably  the  cause  of  the  existence  of  the  other  two  channels. 
Off  this  coast  lie  the  coral  reefs  of  the  Parcel  das  Paredes 
and  the  islands  of  the  Abrolhos,  already  described. 

The  shore  northward  to  Prado  is  low  and  flat,  a  long 
monotonous  sand-beach,  which  is  broken  by  the  Barra  Velha, 
the  mouth  of  an  inconsiderable  stream,  and,  at  a  distance 
of  about  nine  miles  north  of  the  Ponta  da  Balea,  by  the 
Barra  do  Rio  Itanhaem,*  which  is  a  small  river  like  the 
Peruhype,  arising  in  the  Serra  dos  Aymore's.  At  its  mouth 
this  river  bends  abruptly  southward,  and  flows  for  at  least 
a  couple  of  miles  almost  parallel  with  the  sea-coast  before 
it  escapes  into  the  ocean.  According  to  Prince  Neu-Wied 
manati  have  been  captured  in  this  river.  Alcobaga,  a  small 
town  of  very  little  importance,  is  situated  on  the  seaside 
between  the  river  and  the  beach.  Prince  Neu-Wied  says 
that  the  country  about  AlcobaQa  is  healthy,  but  that  the 
climate  is  unpleasant  from  the  frequency  of  strong  winds 
and  storms. 

Twelve  miles  farther  north,  the  Rio  Jucurucu  empties 
into  the  sea.  This  stream  is  formed  by  the  union  of  the 
two  branches  called  respectively  the  Bra^o  do  Norte  and 
Brago  do  Sul,  which  take  their  origin  in  the  Cordilheira 
dos  Aymore's.  This  river,  like  the  Itanhaem,  on  reaching 
the  coast  is  obliged  to  flow  southward  for  two  or  three 
miles,  behind  a  beach  ridge,  before  escaping  into  the  sea. 

*  According  to  Dr.  Jose*  Candido  da  Costa,  in  his  pamphlet  entitled  "  A 
Comarca  de  Caravellas,"  a  copy  of  which  I  owe  to  the  kindness  of  Sr.  Licino 
Lessa,  the  Itanhaem  is  narrower  and  shallower  than  the  Peruhype.  Near  its 
mouth  it  forms  a  little  basin.  It  is  subject  to  freshets. 


PROVINCE   OF   BAHIA. 


225 


The  bar  of  the  river  allows  the  entrance  of  schooners  and 
small  vessels,  and  the  river  is  said  to  be  navigable  for 
small  vessels  (sumacas)  for  a  distance  of  some  six  leagues. 
The  valley  of  this  stream  is  rich  in  lumber,  and  in  1857, 
according  to  Da  Costa,  almost  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  mu- 
nicipio  of  Prado  were  occupied  in  cutting  it.  The  town  of 
Prado,  another  unimportant  place,  is  built  between  the  river 
and  the  sea  on  the  left  bank.  A  few  miles  north  of  the 
Prado  the  tertiary  bluffs,  which  from  the  Peruhype  have 
skirted  the  coast  at  a  greater  or  less  distance  in  the  interior, 
come  down  to  the  sea,  and  thence  to  Porto  Seguro  form 
a  long  stretch  of  picturesque  perpendicular  red  cliffs,  alter 
nating  with  steep  slopes  covered  with  verdure,  and  occa 
sional  patches  of  sands  or  swampy  ground. 

From  the  sea  the  horizontal  bright  red  and  white  bands 
of  clays  are  distinctly  seen.  Near  Porto  Seguro,  as  well 
as  elsewhere,  I  observed  that  the  valleys  of  the  rivers  enter 
ing  the  sea  did  not  have  angular  sloping  sides,  but  their 
profile  as  seen  in  a  cliff  was  as  in  the  following  sketch, 


which  is  a  kind  of  topography  that  we  should  expect  to  see 
in  a  glaciated  surface.  The  bluffs  would,  I  should  judge, 
average  two  hundred  feet  in  height. 

About  forty  miles  north  of  Caravellas,  and  a  few  miles 
inland,  is  the  beautiful  group  of  hills  noted  as  being  the 
first  land  of  America  seen  by  Cabral.     The  most  conspicu- 
10*  o 


226  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL    GEOGRAPHY. 

ous  of  these  hills  is  an  irregular  conical  peak  which  bears 
the  name  of  Monte  Pascoal.*  Mouchez  sets  the  hill  down 
on  his  map  as  536  metres  in  height,  but  I  should  judge  that 
it  was  much  higher.  These  hills  are  undoubtedly  gneiss, 
but  they  lie  far  back  in  the  virgin  forest,  in  the  as  yet  un 
explored  home  of  the  savage  Botocudo.  The  appearance 
of  the  group  as  seen  from  the  sea  is  represented  in  the 
following  woodcut.  Along  this  coast  several  small  rivers 
rising  in  the  Serra  dos  Aymores  empty  into  the  sea,  but  they 
are  of  very  little  importance,  and  are  usually  incorrectly 
laid  down  on  maps. 


MONTE  PASCOAL  FROM   THE  SEA. 

*  Monte  Pascoal  was  the  first  point  seen  when  Cabral  discovered  Brazil,  on 
the  21st  of  April,  A.  D.  1500.  Pedro  Vaz  dc  Caminha,  one  of  the  companions 
of  Cabral,  has  described  the  events  connected  with  the  discovery  in  a  letter  writ 
ten  on  the  1st  of  May,  1500.  This  writer  speaks  of  the  mountain  as  very  high  and 
round,  with  other  serras  to  the  south,  together  with  flat  land  covered  with  large 
trees.  "  E  neste  dia  a  oras  dc  vespora  ouvemos  vista  de  terra,  a  saber  :  primei- 
ramente  de  huum  gramde  monte,  muy  alto  e  redondo,  e  doutras  serras  mais 
baixas  aho  Sul  dele,  e  de  terra  chaa  com  gramdes  arvorcdos  ;  aho  quaal  montc 
alto  ho  Capitam  pos  nome  ho  Montc  Pascoal,  e  aa  terra  ha  Terra  da  Vera 
Cruz." —  Corofjrafia  Brazilica,  Tome  I.  p.  13.  A  French  translation  of  this 
letter  is  to  be  found  in  the  Art  de  Verifier  les  Dates,  Tome  XIII.  p.  441.  The 
original,  which  is  of  great  interest,  is  preserved  in  the  government  archives  at 
Rio.  Cazal  says,  speaking  of  the  Serra  dos  Aymore's  :  "  Cuja  porcao  mais 
alta  he  o  Monte  de  Joam  de  Liam  [Jo5o  de  Leao]  e  mais  fora  o  Monte  Pnscodl 
que  se  avista  de  muitas  lequas  ao  mar."  This  Jo2o  de  Leao  is  a  noted  land 
mark,  but  I  can  give  no  idea  of  its  height 


PROVINCE   OF   BAHIA.  227 

In  front  or  to  the  east  of  Monte  Pascoal  lies  the  great  reef- 
ground  of  the  Itacolumis.  This  is  separated  from  a  low 
projecting  sandy  point  called  Ponta  Corumba  by  a  very  nar 
row  but  deep  channel.  A  few  miles  north  of  this  point 
is  the  Rio  Craminuan  or  Caxoeira,  which  is  noteworthy 
from  the  fact  that,  contrary  to  the  general  rule,  on  reach 
ing  the  coast,  instead  of  immediately  entering  the  sea,  it 
flows  northward  nearly  a  mile  close  to  the  sea,  but  sepa 
rated  from  it  by  a  sand-bank,  showing  that  the  wash  of  the 
coast  sands  is  here  northward  instead  of  southward,  —  a  fact 
determined  by  the  reefs  lying  off  the  shore.  North  of  the 
Craminuan  aretheRios  Joassema,  Frade,*  and  Taipe".  The 
village  of  Trancozo  is  situated  on  the  coast  a  few  miles 
south  of  Porto  Seguro,  but  it  is  of  no  importance  what 
ever. 

At  Porto  Seguro  enters  the  Buranhaem  River,  a  stream  of 
moderate  dimensions,  which,  according  to  the  maps,  rises 
to  the  southwest  in  the  province  of  Minas,  a  few  miles  from 
the  boundary  line.  Gerber  represents  this  as  a  considerable 
stream  flowing  through  a  large  lake  called  Gravata,  distant 
some  thirty  miles  from  the  sea,  and  communicating  with  an 
other  considerable  lake  about  half-way  between  this  and  the 
sea.  At  Porto  Seguro  I  was  informed  that  this  was  all  very 
incorrect ;  but  Since  I  have  never  ascended  the  river,  I  can 
not  speak  authoritatively.  The  stream  is  a  black- water  one, 

*  In  speaking  of  the  coast  between  Prado  and  Rio  do  Frade,  Max.  zu  Neu 
Wicd  says :  "Als  ich  im  November  dieses  Jahres  noch  einmal  diese  Reise 
macbte,  fand  ich  bei  starker  Ebbe  weite  Banke  von  Sand-  und  Kalk-Felsen, 
die  sich  tief  in  die  See  hinaus  erstrccken,  und  wohl  grossentheils  durch  Corallen- 
Thierc  gebildet  wordcn  sind.  Ihrc  Oberflachc  ist  in  regelmassige  parallele  Risse 
getheilt ;  in  den  vom  Wasser  darin  ausgcwaschenen  Luchern  leben  Krabben  und 
andere  See-Thicre ;  die  Oberflache  diescr  Felsbanke  iiberzieht  zum  Theil  cine 
griine  Byssus-artige  Masse."  —  Prinz  Max.  zu  Neu-Wied,  Reise  nach  Brasilien, 
Erster  Band,  297"  Seite. 


228  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

and  flows  in  a  deep  narrow  valley  cut  in  the  tertiary  beds. 
The  flat  lands  bordering  it  are  said  to  be  fertile,  and  favor 
ably  situated  for  agricultural  purposes.*  The  forests  are 
rich  in  valuable  woods,  Pao  Brazil,  Jacaranda,  <fcc.  Porto 
Seguro  is  quite  a  large  and  commercial  town,  situated  on 
the  left  bank  by  the  seaside.  It  really  consists  of  two 
towns,  one  built  by  the  river  and  seaside  on  a  broad,  flat, 
sandy,  and  marshy  tract,  and  part  on  the  top  of  the  bluff  on 
the  northern  side  of  the  valley.  The  lower  town  is  the 
business  portion  ;  the  upper  contains  the  ruins  of  ancient 
churches,  monasteries,  &c.  Porto  Seguro  is  noted  as  the 
head-quarters  of  the  garoupa  fishery  of  the  Abrolhos.  It 
has  an  excellent  harbor,  protected  in  front  by  the  coral  reefs, 
which  break  the  force  of  the  Atlantic  waves,  and  by  a  reef 
like  that  of  Pernambuco,  consisting  of  a  solidified  beach. 
This  last  begins  close  to  the  shore  a  short  distance  north  of 
the  mouth  of  the  river,  runs  like  a  wall  of  rock  in  front  of 
the  river,  passing  close  to  the  point  on  the  southern  side, 
and  continues  on  to  the  southward  with  occasional  breaks 
for  a  distance  of  several  miles.  Its  course  is  remarkably 
straight,  and  its  height  and  width  are  very  regular.  It 
forms  a  more  efficient  breakwater  to  the  harbor  than  the 
reef  at  Pernambuco  does ;  but  this  is  owing  partially  to  the 
fact  that  the  sea  is  broken  by  the  outside  coral  reef  which 
stretches  across  the  mouth  of  the  bay  of  Porto  Seguro. 
The  river  escapes  around  the  northern  end  of  the  reef.  On 
the  inner  side  it  is  overhanging,  on  the  outer  perpendicular 
and  much  undermined,  as  represented  in  the  woodcut. 
As  elsewhere  its  surface  is  diversified  by  ponds,  in  which 
several  species  of  corals  grow.  The  northern  end  of 
the  reef  is  much  shattered,  cracked  up,  and  dislocated, 

*  Lindley  says  that  gold  was  found  on  one  of  the  branches  of  this  river. 


PROVINCE    OF    BAHIA. 


229 


MgTtWcLter. 


SECTION   ACROSS    bTOME   REEF   AT   PORTO    SEGURO. 

and  it  shows  that  the  cementing  of  the  beach-sands  has 
taken  place  to  a  depth  of  many  feet  below  low-water  level. 
Beyond  the  reef,  the  rock  slopes  out  with  a  smooth,  rather 
even  surface  to  a  considerable  distance,  and  I  have  waded  out 
on  it  in  some  places  a  hundred  feet  or  more.  Its  limits  I 
was  not  able  to  determine,  owing  to  the  surf.  On  the  out 
side  the  reef  below  low-water  mark  is  covered  with  a  growth 
of  corals.  Stony  corals,  Hymenogorgice,  Eunicice,  and  the 
common  polyps  of  the  Abrolhos,  are  very  abundant  here. 
I  found  a  single  specimen  of  Mussa  Harttii  in  a  deep  in 
dentation  at  the  northern  extremity  of  the  reef. 

As  at  Pernambuco,  Bahia,  Barra  Secca,  and  elsewhere, 
the  rock  is  obliquely  laminated,  as  in  a  sand-beach,  the 
lamina  dipping  seawards  at  a  small  angle.  It  is  composed 
of  rather  fine  sand,  with  occasional  small  pebbles,  compactly 
held  together  by  a  calcareous  cement.  It  contains  an  abun 
dance  of  recent  shells,  Venus,  Cerithium,  Chama,  &c.,  &c., 
such  as  now  live  on  the  sea-beaches  of  the  vicinity.  On  the 
inside  the  reef-rock  is  of  little  thickness,  and  the  reef  is 
flanked  by  a  sloping  bank  of  mud,  on  which  a  few  man 
groves  have  taken  root.  Oysters  grow  here  on  the  rocks 
and  mangroves,  and  a  large  species  of  Littorina  is  very 
common,  being  found  even  in  the  trees  at  a  height  of  four 
or  five  feet  above  the  level  of  high  water.  This  same 
species  occurs  elsewhere,  and  I  have  observed  it  in  great 


230  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

abundance  higher  than  I  could  reach  in  the  mangroves  at 
Santa  Cruz,  a  few  miles  north  of  Port  Seguro.  Crustaceans 
are  abundant  on  the  reef. 

Little  fiddlers  ( Gelasimus  palustris  Edwards)*  are  very 
common  on  the  sandy  beaches  in  some  localities,  boring 
holes  in  the  sand.  There  are  larger  species  of  the  same 
genus  (Gelasimus  Maracoani  Latreille)  with  a  nut-brown 
body,  and  one  of  the  hands  enormously  developed,  looking 
like  a  pair  of  broad-bladed  shears. f 

On  the  shore  of  the  point  on  the  southern  side  of  the 
mouth  of  the  river  is  a  small  patch  of  beach,  which  is  only 
partially  consolidated.  This  is  separated  from  the  reef  by 
a  narrow  channel  almost  laid  dry  at  low  water.  Outside 
the  main  reef,  and  opposite  this,  there  are  the  remains 
of  probably  an  older  reef,  which  has  elsewhere  been  almost 
entirely  obliterated.  Southward  of  the  river  the  channel 
soon  widens  into  quite  a  broad  sheet  of  water,  and  the  reef 
is  left  running  at  a  distance  of  several  hundred  feet  from 
the  shore.  The  water  inside  the  reef  is  shallow,  and  at 
low  water  one  may  wade  about  over  a  large  part  of  the 
area  and  collect.  The  bottom  is  sandy,  but  on  it  grows 
an  irregular  crust,  composed  of  millepores,  corals,  bryozoans, 
<fec.,  which  forms  the  nestling-place  for  holothurians,  ophiu- 
rans,  crustaceans,  and  a  thousand  interesting  animals.  A 
large  naked  mollusk,  probably  Aplysia  Arg-o  D'Orb,  is  very 
common  here,  and  I  have  collected  a  dozen  specimens  in  the 
same  little  pool.  Inside  the  reef  the  water  is  deep  enough  to 

*  This  species  bears,  in  every  respect,  an  exceedingly  close  resemblance  to 
our  northern  G.  vocans  Dana.  Mr.  Sidney  I.  Smith  considers  the  Brazilian 
species  as  identical  with  one  occurring  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  even  so  far 
north  as  South  Carolina. 

t  These  fiddlers  are  called  by  the  fishermen  Charna  mar?  (call  tide),  because  of 
their  congregating  at  low-water  mark  and  waving  their  big  claws. 


PROVINCE   OF  BAHIA.  231 

admit  vessels  of  ordinary  tonnage  and  the  coasting  steamers. 
The  reef  is  higher  than  that  at  Pernambuco,  if  I  judge 
rightly,  and  less  shattered  ;  but,  as  above  remarked,  the 
Pernambucaii  reef  is  exposed  to  the  full  action  of  the  sea. 
At  high  water  the  waves  also  break  completely  over  the 
Porto  Seguran  reef.  Prince  Neu-Wied  gives  a  sketch  of 
Porto  Seguro  from  the  southern  point.  The  width  of  the 
river  is  very  much  exaggerated. 

The  line  of  the  tertiary  slopes  continues  on  without  inter 
ruption  to  Santa  Cruz ;  but  the  shore  on  leaving  Porto 
Seguro  soon  separates  itself  from  the  chapadas,  and  forms 
a  considerable  point  of  land,  of  which  the  interior  seems  to 
be,  for  a  considerable  part  at  least,  swampy.  On  the  south 
ern  side  the  beach  is  backed  by  mangrove  swamps,  from 
which  the  water  is  drained  by  a  little  stream  that  flows 
across  the  beach.  In  passing  very  close  to  the  point  at  low 
tide,  I  observed  that  the  waves  were  breaking  along  a  line 
at  some  distance  from  the  shore,  as  if  against  the  edge  of  a 
reef.  It  would  appear  that  the  point  has  been  formed  by 
the  filling  up  of  the  channel  behind  a  coral  reef  with  sand. 
Santa  Cruz,  one  of  the  most  ancient  towns  of  Brazil,  and  at 
the  same  time  one  of  the  most  miserable,  is  built  on  the 
southern  side  of  the  mouth  of  the  little  river  Santa  Cruz, 
partly  on  the  top  of  the  bluff  and  partly  on  the  sands  at 
the  base,  between  the  bluffs  and  the  sea.  Though  it  has 
a  fine  harbor,  and  many  natural  advantages,  it  is  of  not 
the  slightest  importance,  and  is  only  a  miserable  little  fish 
ing  village.  It  is  situated  in  a  shallow  bay,  about  seven 
miles  long,  which  is  protected  by  coral  reefs,  that  extend 
across  it,  offering  anchorage  for  large  ships. 

The  Rio  Santa  Cruz,  anciently  called  Joao  de  Tiba,  be 
longs  to  the  same  class  of  rivers  as  the  Buranhaem,  but  it 


232  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

is  a  smaller  river.  It  is  said  to  rise  in  the  Serra  dos 
Aymores,  to  have  a  course  of  about  ten  leagues,  and  to  be 
navigable  for  a  considerable  distance  for  canoes.  It  is  laid 
down  incorrectly  on  maps.  At  Santa  Cruz  I  was  informed 
that  its  course  was  such  as  to  cause  it  to  approach  the  Je- 
quitinhonha,  from  which,  at  Zinebra,  it  is  separated  by  only 
a  very  short  distance,  and  I  was  informed  that  it  would  ad 
mit  of  navigation  up  to  that  point  by  a  small  river  steamer. 
Prince  Xeu-Wied  says  that  the  river  has  two  branches,  and 
that  the  head-waters  of  one  of  them  lie  so  near  the  Jequi- 
tinhonha,  that  the  report  of  a  gun  can  be  heard  across  the  in 
tervening  space.  The  valley  of  the  Santa  Cruz  is  of  the  same 
character  as  that  of  the  Buranhaem.  It  is  fertile  and 
richly  wooded,  furnishing  building  timber  and  some  Jaca- 
randa  and  Pao  Brazil.  It  is  noted  for  the  abundance  of 
canna  fistula  (Cassia  nigra),  a  tree  valuable  for  its  medici 
nal  properties. 

The  river  on  reaching  the  sea  is  prevented  from  flow 
ing  immediately  into  it  by  a  recife,  or  consolidated  beach, 
which,  beginning  on  the  shore  just  to  the  south  of  the  vil 
lage,  continues  in  the  trend  of  the  beach,  which  is  north 
a  few  degrees  east,  with  an  occasional  break  for  a  distance 
of  about  two  miles,  the  river  flowing  behind  it  and  escaping 
around  its  northern  extremity.  At  low  water  the  breakers 
show  that  the  reef  is  continued  under  water  with  the  same 
general  trend  northwards,  tying  in  with  a  reef  which,  be 
ginning  at  a  point  about  a  mile  north  of  the  river-mouth, 
fringes  the  beach  for  more  than  half  a  mile,  as  represented 
in  the  accompanying  sketch-map  of  the  bays  of  Santa  Cruz 
and  Cabral,  in  which  not  only  the  stone  but  coral  reefs  are 
shown.  Mouchcz  has  very  incorrectly  represented  the  har 
bor  in  his  chart.  Through  the  kindness  of  my  friend 


PROVINCE   OF   BAHIA. 


233 


Hugh  "Wilson,  Esq.,  superintendent  of  the  Bahia  Steam 
Navigation  Company,  I  was  enabled  to  revisit  Santa  Cruz 
in  1867,  and  to  correct  Mouchez's  chart  by  drawings  made 
from  the  top  of  the  old  church  on  the  bluff,  and  these 
corrections  I  have  introduced  in  the  map.  In  front  of  the 


town  the  reef  clings  to  the  shore,  though  there  is  a  channel 
behind  it  filled  at  high  water.  The  reef  is  much  shattered, 
and  great  blocks  lie  tumbled  about  in  confusion,  broken 
from  it  by  the  waves.  For  a  distance  of  a  mile  or  so 
north  of  the  village  the  reef  is  backed  by  a  narrow  strip 
of  mangroves.  There  is  then  a  narrow  break  in  the  reef, 
forming  a  sort  of  bar,  into  which  very  small  vessels  may 
enter  at  high  water.  Thence  to  the  barra  the  reef  is  backed, 
almost  to  the  end,  by  a  wider  strip  of  mangroves.  At  the 
extremity  the  reef  is  double,  the  remains  of  an  older  reef 
being  visible  on  the  outer  side.  An  example  of  a  triple 
reef  is  represented  in  the  chart  of  the  mouth  of  the  Rio 
Parahyba  do  Norte,  published  in  the  old  work  of  Barlasus, 


234  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

in  1660.*  I  have  never  seen  this  reef,  and  know  nothing 
of  its  present  appearance.  The  bar  of  the  Santa  Cruz 
is  good,  and  may  be  safely  entered  by  coasting  steamers  or 
large  vessels.  At  the  time  of  my  last  visit  I  saw  a  brig 
lying  behind  the  reef  at  the  bar.  There  is  sufficient  water 
to  enable  steamers  and  vessels  of  considerable  size  to  go 
up  to  the  town.  This  harbor  could  be  very  much  improved 
by  stopping  up  the  channels  by  which  part  of  the  river  water 
escapes  near  the  town  as  well  as  the  break  in  the  reef  above 
described.  This  would  cause  the  whole  force  of  the  stream 
to  be  expended  on  the  proper  channel  of  the  river,  and  it 
would  in  this  way  be  kept  from  being  filled  up  by  mud  and 
sand  banks.  The  country  in  the  vicinity  of  Santa  Cruz, 
embracing  the  region  of  the  Jequitinhonha,  is  so  naturally 
rich,  that  as  the  coast  becomes  settled  it  must  one  day  be 
developed,  and  one  cannot  doubt  that  Santa  Cruz  will  ulti 
mately  become  the  port  of  the  Jequitinhonha,  and  a  place 
of  much  importance.  From  Santa  Cruz  the  bluffs  run 
northward,  following  close  to  the  shore,  with  occasionally 
some  sandy  tracts  in  front,  but  they  gradually  trend  off 
from  the  coast  and  cross  the  Jequitinhonha  between  Zinebra 
and  the  Po-assu. 

A  few  miles  north  of  the  Santa  Cruz  is  the  Eio  Sant' 
Antonio,  a  little  black-water  river  of  no  account.  About  a 
mile  and  a  half  north  of  this  river  I  saw  exposed  at  low- 
water,  in  a  little  bay,  an  area  of  several  acres  of  dead  coral, 
principally  Acanthastrcea,  &c.,  in  situ,  but  much  worn  by 
the  waves.  These  corals  must  have  grown  when  the  sea 
bottom  over  this  region  stood  at  a  considerably  lower  level 
than  at  present,  for  I  have  seen  them  nowhere  living  at  a 

*  For  a  reduced  copy  of  a  part  of  the  chart  of  Barlasus,  as  well  as  a  recent 
sketch  map  after  Almeida,  see  chapter  on  the  Province  of  Parahyba 


PROVINCE   OF   BAHIA.  235 

level  where  they  would  be  likely  to  be  exposed  at  low  water. 
When  they  were  growing  the  sands  forming  the  low  grounds 
bordering  the  coast  here  could  not  have  had  so  wide  an 
extension  seawards.  This  reef  patch  has  evidently  been 
killed  by  the  joint  rise  of  the  coast  and  the  encroachment 
of  the  shore  sands.  I  collected  on  the  shore  here  a  great 
number  of  specimens  of  the  pancake  sea-urchin  (Encope 
emarginatus^) ,  so  common  in  the  Bahia  do  Todos  or  Santos. 
Neu  Wied  speaks  of  the  great  abundance  of  this  echinoid 
on  the  shore  near  Sant'  Antonio.  He  refers  it  to  Echinus 
pentaporus,  or  as  he  writes  it,  Eschinus  pentaporus. 

Thence  northward  the  coast  is  bordered  by  a  narrow 
strip  of  plain,  which  widens  as  the  bluffs  recede  from  the 
coast,  and  finally  opens  out  into  broad,  sandy  campos,  which 
extend  from  the  Mugiquisaba  River,  a  small  black-water 
stream,  to  Belmonte.  It  is  interesting  to  observe  how  this 
whole  plain  has  been  added  to  the  coast,  by  the  throwing 
up  by  the  sea  of  the  sands  of  the  Jcquitiiihonha,  and  more 
over  that  this  growth  has  taken  place  to  the  south  of  the 
river  rather  than  to  the  north,  because  of  the  sweeping  of 
the  sauds  southwards  by  the  oblique  beat  of  the  waves,  and 
perhaps  by  the  drift  of  a  southward  flowing  current.  In 
going  northward  from  the  Mugiquisaba  to  the  Jequitinhonha 
the  water  gradually  shallows.  The  result  is  that  the  surf 
beats  more  heavily  on  the  southern  part  of  this  coast, 
and  we  find  a  high  beach-ridge  developed,  while,  near  the 
mouth  of  the  Jequitinhonha,  the  water  growing  shallow, 
the  bottom  is  disturbed  farther  out  by  wave  action,  and  the 
sands  are  constantly  being  driven  in  shore  to  widen  the 
plain,  and  of  course  extraordinarily  heavy  storms  are  here 
likely  to  throw  up  beaches  outside  the  present  shore  line. 
The  plain  consists  of  a  large  number  of  parallel  beaches, 


236  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

one  lying  in  front  of  the  other,  sometimes  united,  at  others 
separated  by  miniature  valleys,  occasionally  only  a  few  feet 
in  width,  but  often  continuous  for  a  considerable  distance. 
Many  of  these  beaches  have  their  slopes  almost  as  perfect 
as  if  it  were  but  yesterday  that  they  were  swept  by  the 
waves.  In  the  depressions  water  accumulates,  sometimes 
forming  shallow  lagoons.  The  present  beach  on  going 
southward  from  the  barra  separates  itself  from  the  plain, 
and  at  the  same  time  increases  in  height  as  the  surf  action 
becomes  heavier.  Behind  this  beach  is  a  narrow  river-like 
lagoon,  called  the  Lagcia  do  Brae/).  This  is  at  first  narrow 
and  shallow,  but  to  the  south  it  deepens  and  widens  as  the 
beach-ridge  becomes  separated  from  the  plain.  Its  waters 
are  fresh  and  clear,  and  very  rich  in  fish.  Camboas,  or 
fish-weirs,  are  common  along  its  shores,  which  are  muddy, 
and  to  a  very  large  extent  support  a  luxuriant  growth  of 
mangroves  and  guaxuma-bushes.  In  making  a  voyage  to 
Porto  Seguro  my  companion  and  I  became  separated  from 
our  baggage  troop,  which  was  following  the  beach,  and, 
taking  a  road  on  the  western  side  of  the  Lagoa,  were  un 
able  to  cross  it  anywhere,  because  of  the  swampy  nature  of 
the  banks  and  the  depth  of  the  water.  Prince  Xeu-Wied 
says  that  about  one  half  of  the  way  between  Mugiquisaba 
and  the  Jequitinhonha  is  the  barra  where  a  clried-up  arm 
of  the  latter  river  once  emptied  into  the  sea.  By  the 
dried-up  arm  he  probably  means  the  Lagoa  do  Brago,  which, 
as  he  travelled  along  the  sea-beach,  he  probably  did  not  ex 
amine,  as  he  says  nothing  about  it.  I  saw  no  outlet  to  the 
Lagua.  When  swollen  it  may  break  through  the  beach 
ridge,  as  is  the  case  with  other  seaside  lagoons.  It  ap 
pears  to  be  drained  principally  by  the  slow  percolation  of 
its  waters  through  the  beach  into  the  sea. 


PROVINCE   OF  BAHIA.  237 

The  plain  is  to  a  large  extent  open  and  very  sparsely 
covered  with  coarse  grass,  bromeliaceous  plants,  cactuses, 
<fec.,  with  here  and  there  clumps  of  trees.  The  Aricuri 
palm  is  very  common  on  this  plain,  together  with  the 
pretty  dwarf  Guriri.  This  latter,  all  along  the  whole  coast, 
is  found  growing  on  and  just  back  of  the  sea-beaches,  and 
is  one  of  the  marked  elements  of  the  beach  flora.  The 
Piassaba  palm  (Attalea  funifera  Mart.)  flourishes  on  the 
Mugiquisaba,  as  remarked  by  Neu-Wied.  I  have  not  seen 
it  south  of  this  point.  Cactuses,  with  procumbent  pris 
matic  stems,  form  large  patches  on  the  sands.  Another 
very  characteristic  plant  of  the  coast  sands  is  the  Ipomosa 
littoralis,  a  convolvulaceous  plant,  with  long,  thick,  cord-like 
creeping  branches,  pink  blossoms,  and  large  thick  oval 
leaves.  This  plant  grows  sometimes  on  the  beach  almost 
within  reach  of  the  waves,  and  its  prostrate  stems  are  often 
buried  by  the  sands. 

The  right  bank  of  the  river,  for  some  eight  or  ten  miles 
above  its  mouth,  is  very  low  and  liable  to  be  flooded.  A 
very  large  part  consists  of  mangrove  swamps.  The  Po- 
assii  *  is  a  very  narrow  ditch-like  canal  which  runs  through 
the  alluvial  grounds,  leading  off  part  of  the  waters  of  the 
Jequitinhonha  into  a  small  black-water  river  called  the 
Salsa,  which  flows  into  the  Pardo.  So  much  higher  do 
the  waters  of  the  Jequitinhonha  stand  above  those  of  the 
Pardo,  that,  though  the  tide  rises  and  falls  in  the  latter 
river  where  the  Po-assu  enters  it,  there  is  a  constant  flow 
of  water  from  the  Jequitinhonha  into  the  Pardo.  The 
Po-assu  is  so  narrow,  tortuous,  and  filled  up  with  trees,  that 

*  This  name  is  Tupi.  Pd-a$u  means  left  hand,  so  that  it  might  mean  left- 
hand  channel.  Yg-apti  means  a  swamp.  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  the  name 
was  first  Yg-ap6-acu,  or  the  great  swamp,  which  has  since  passed  to  the  canal. 


238  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

its  current  is  measurably  slackened,  else  it  would  sweep  out 
for  itself  a  broader  channel  and  draw  off  a  larger  quantity 
of  water  from  the  Jequitinhonha.  What  the  consequence 
of  this  would  be  I  shall  state  further  on.  The  soil  of  the 
grounds  bordering  the  Po-assu  is  massape",  and  supports  a 
very  vigorous  and  thick  forest  growth.*  From  the  Salsa,  after 
having  received  the  Po-assu,  side  arms  stretch  out  eastward 
into  the  flat  grounds  lying  between  it  and  the  sea.  The 
whole  area  embraced  between  the  Pardo  and  Jequitinhonha, 
the  cross-stream  and  the  sea,  is  one  vast  swamp,  compar 
able  to  that  which  lies  between  the  Peruhype  and  the 
Caravellas  ;  the  Po-assu  being  comparable  to  the  Bra^o  de 
Vic,osa,  both  the  Po-assu  and  Brac,o  being  channels  by 
which  the  waters  of  a  river  with  an  inefficient  mouth- 
opening  are  enabled  to  escape  into  the  sea  through  the 
mouth  of  another  river.  There  are  some  quite  extensive 
sandy  tracts  in  this  area  and  along  the  coast.  These  are 
planted  with  groves  of  cocoa-palms,  from  the  fruit  of  which 
cocoa-oil  is  to  some  extent  manufactured.  A  large  tract 
lying  northward  of  the  Salsa,  and  embraced  between  it 
and  the  Pardo,  is  of  the  same  character.  The  Pardo  is  a 
large  river,  and  has  a  bar  on  which  the  waves  beat  fearfully, 
but  it  usually  admits  at  high  water  of  the  passage  of 
steamers  under  the  proper  pilotage.  The  Pardo  does  not 
bring  down  so  much  sediment  as  the  Jequitinhonha,  its 

*  In  the  forest  of  the  Po-assu  the  Quitdra  (Dcsmoncus),  a  trailing  palm, 
is  exceedingly  common,  interwoven  with  the  trees.  I  saw  it  in  fruit  early 
in  May.  The  fruit  is  round,  about  the  size  of  a  small  cherry,  bright  red, 
and  in  clusters  like  grapes.  This  is  a  common  species  found  in  the  Catinga 
woods  on  the  low  grounds  along  the  coast,  sometimes  in  such  great  abundance 
as  to  be  a  nuisance,  for  it  hangs  its  pendant  leaves,  terminated  with  hooks,  over 
the  mule-path.  The  name  Quitara  is  the  one  given  it  by  my  guide.  On  the 
Rio  Negro  the  Desmoncus  macroacanthus  is  called  Jadtdra. 


PROVINCE   OF   BAHIA.  239 

channel  is  deeper,  and  the  tide  runs  up  the  river  for  quite  a 
number  of  miles. 

Just  before  entering  the  sea  the  river  makes  a  bend  south 
ward,  and  the  barra  is  really  cut  through  a  strip  of  sand-beach 
which  forms  the  shore  for  a  long  distance  north  and  south. 
A  wide  channel,  or  riacho,  leaves  the  river  on  the  south  just 
before  it  cuts  through  the  sand,  and  runs  through  the  man 
grove  swamps  for  a  considerable  distance  southward.  In 
journeying  from  Cannavieiras*  to  Belmonte  I  followed  this 
route.  My  companion  and  I  took  canoe  up  this  riacho  as  far 
as  was  possible,  then  coming  to  a  sandy  tract,  we  chose  the 
sea-shore  for  some  distance,  when  we  embarked  in  a  canoe  on 
another  riacho  which  led  southward  to  the  Jequitinhonha,  a 
dismal,  but  to  the  naturalist  exceedingly  interesting  journey. 
There  was  a  perfect  network  of  channels  leading  through 
the  dense  mangrove  growth,  and  for  some  distance  little 
land  was  to  be  seen.  The  mangroves  standing  in  the 
mud  or  dirty  water,  with  their  bared  basal  roots,  their  fre 
quent  aerial  roots  hanging  ropelike  from  the  branches,  and 
just  before  reaching  the  soil  forking  like  tripods,  their  dense 
green  foliage  meeting  overhead,  and  their  curious  cigar- 
shaped  seeds  pendent  in  the  tree  or  occasionally  sticking 
upright  in  the  mud,  were  objects  of  wonder  and  admira 
tion  ;  but  among  their  roots  innumerable  fuzzy  and  muddy- 
legged  Guayamti  crabs  glared  at  us  with  expressionless  eyes, 
and  then  hustled  away  into  their  holes  in  the  black  mud. 
Beautiful  orange  Aratus,  with  white  fingers,  lay  like  rich 
fruit  fallen  from  the  trees;  but  they,  too,  took  fright  and 
ran  nimbly  off  to  their  holes,  or  hid  in  crevices  under  the 
roots,  while  myriads  of  fiddlers  marched  away,  waving  their 

*  This  is  the  usual  orthography,  but  one  meets  with  Canavieira,  Canavieiras, 
or  even  Canasvieiras. 


240  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

big  arms,  and  took  refuge  in  the  sandy  spots.  Parrots  * 
screamed  among  the  branches  ;  but,  peste  !  mosquitoes  and 
all  the  horrible  blood-sucking  race  of  Maroims,  Piums, 
&c.,  swarm  ;  and,  how  ardent  soever  the  naturalist  may 
be,  his  patience  can  ill  stand  the  plague  of  flies  that  falls 
upon  him  in  these  swamps.  The  air  of  the  swamps  is 
very  unhealthy,  and  the  vicinity  of  Belmonte  and  Canna- 
vieiras  is  feverish.  The  town  of  Cannaviciras  is  situated 
on  the  left  bank  of  the  river,  just  above  the  mouth.  It 
is  built  on  an  old  beach,  an  island  surrounded  by  a  chan 
nel,  which,  leaving  the  river  some  distance  above  the  town, 
enters  it  again  just  before  the  river  reaches  the  sea.  The 
town  is  quite  a  considerable  place,  numbering,  perhaps,  two 
thousand  inhabitants.  It  derives  its  chief  importance  from 
the  fact  that  it  is  the  port  of  the  Jequitinhonha  and  Pardo, 
and  is  one  of  the  stations  of  a  line  of  steamers.  Canoes  de 
scending  the  Jequitinhonha  do  not  go  to  Belmonte,  but  come 
here  by  way  of  the  Po-assu  and  Salsa,  to  exchange  the 
cotton,  corn,  and  other  articles  of  export  of  Minas  and  the 
lower  river  for  salt,  dry  goods,  &c.  The  salt  trade  is  very 
large.  In  descending  the  Jequitinhonha,  we  passed  every 
day  several  large  canoes  on  the  up  voyage,  the  most  of 
them  carrying  salt. 

It  has  been  proposed  to  straighten  and  widen  the  Po-assu, 
so  as  to  facilitate  the  navigation  between  the  two  great 
rivers.  At  present  the  waters  of  the  Pardo  during  the  annual 
freshets  wear  away  the  unstable  land  on  which  Cannavieiras 
stands.  Were  the  Po-assu  widened  and  a  free  passage  opened 
for  the  waters  of  the  Jequitinhonha,  the  result  would  prove 
disastrous  to  Cannavieiras  as  well  as  to  Belmonte.  At  pres- 

*  Psittacus  ochrocephalus  Linn,  builds  its  nest  in  the  mangroves.  Sec  Ncu 
Wicd. 


PROVINCE   OF   BAHIA.  241 

ent  the  struggle  between  river  and  sea  is  only  sufficient  to 
keep  the  bar  of  the  Jequitinhonha  open.  Draw  off  any  con 
siderable  part  of  the  water  of  that  river,  and  it  is  very 
doubtful  whether  its  bar  would  not  become  a  permanent 
obstruction  to  navigation,  while  the  sands  of  the  Jequi 
tinhonha,  thrown  into  the  Pardo,  would  probably  shoal  the 
water  and  render  its  bar  worse.  Santa  Cruz  is  the  natu 
ral  port  of  the  Jequitinhonha,  and  it  would  certainly  seem 
that  the  commerce  of  the  Jequitinhonha  would  be  vastly 
improved  by  using  the  river  Santo  Cruz  so  far  as  it  is 
navigable  by  steamers,  and  then  building  a  good  wagon- 
road  thence  to  the  Jequitinhonha. 

The  Pardo  is  joined  with  the  Poxim,  a  small  river  said 
to  take  its  rise  in  a  large  lake,  and  whose  barra  is  a  few 
miles  north  of  that  of  the  Pardo,  by  a  narrow  arm  running 
parallel  with  and  close  to  the  shore,  and  called  the  Patipe. 
Cannavieiras  itself  is  situated  on  an  island  formed  by  a 
channel  called  the  Eio  Sip6  which  leaves  the  Pardo  and 
joins  the  Patipe.  The  Poxim,  just  before  it  unites  with  this 
last  river,  subdivides  and  enters  the  sea  by  two  mouths,  one 
of  which  is  called  the  Barra  do  Patipe,  and  the  other  on 
the  north  the  Barra  do  Poxim.  One  or  two  channels 
continuing  northward  from  the  Poxim  like  the  Patipe, 
running  just  inside  the  coast  line,  empty  into  the  sea  a 
couple  of  leagues  to  the  north  at  the  Barra  de  Com- 
mandatuba.  This  whole  coast  has  been  very  indifferently 
mapped  inside  the  coast  line.  The  Jequitinhonha  and 
Pardo  are  often  shown  as  entering  the  sea  by  the  same 
mouth. 

The  map  of  Senhor  Henrique  Gerber,  so  excellent  for  the 
provinces  of  Minas  Geraes,  Rio  de  Janeiro,  and  Espirito 
Santo,  is  exceedingly  defective  so  far  as  the  province  of 

VOL.    I.  11  p 


242  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

Bahia  is  concerned  ;  but  it  must  be  remembered  that  his 
map  does  not  pretend  to  be  a  map  of  Bahia. 

This  part  of  the  coast  is  better  shown  on  the  map  of  the 
Tenente  Manoel  Ernesto  de  Souza  Franca,  published  in  the 
report  of  the  President  of  Bahia  in  1866  ;  but  even  this 
only  gives  the  general  features,  and  is  not  based  on  a  care 
ful  survey. 

According  to  Prince  Neu-Wied's  edition  of  Arrowsmith's 
Map  of  the  Brazilian  Coast,  no  connection  is  shown  as  exist 
ing  between  the  Jequitinhonha  and  Pardo,  and  the  latter 
river  is  represented  as  dividing  into  three  a  long  distance 
from  the  coast,  two  of  which  unite  before  entering  the  sea, 
while  the  Poxim  and  Commandatuba,  though  joined  to 
g-ether,  have  no  connection  with  the  Pardo. 

o 

The  Diccionario  Geographico  declares  that  the  Rio  Pardo 
divides  into  two  streams,  one  of  which  enters  the  sea  under 
the  name  of  the  Rio  Pardo,  the  other  emptying  into  the  Bay 
of  Ilheos  under  the  name  of  Cachoeira  or  Patipe,  which 
is  all  simply  ridiculous. 

Mr.  Copeland  and  I  ascended  the  Pardo  to  the  head  of 
canoe  navigation,  a  journey  of  about  three  days,  and  the 
following  notes  were  made  on  the  return  voyage. 

At  the  Caxoeirinha  do  Rio  Pardo  the  river  reaches  the 
low  country  and  becomes  a  rio  de  arcia.  Here  navigation 
is  obstructed  by  a  series  of  rapids  caused  by  the  river  falling 
over  ledges  of  slate  conglomerate,  of  which  the  dip  was 
found  to  be  45°  to  the  S.  10°  W.,  a  dip  corresponding  with 
that  of  no  other  strata  I  have  studied  on  the  Brazilian 
coast.  The  material  is  a  very  highly  altered  conglomerate, 
composed  of  pebbles  of  milky  quartz,  granite  with  quartz  in 
lamellae,  £c.,  imbedded  in  a  slaty  mass.  The  rock  is  ex 
ceedingly  hard,  and  appears  to  resist  decomposition.  The 


PROVINCE   OF   BAHIA.  243 

stratification  is  not  very  distinct.  On  the  water-worn  sur 
faces  the  pebbles  stand  out  very  prominently,  but  a  fracture 
passes  straight  through  pebbles  as  well  as  cement.  At 
the  Caxoeirinha  these  rocks  are  overlaid  by  tertiary  beds, 
which  form  plains  elevated  three  hundred  feet,  more  or 
less,  above  the  river,  and  which  descend  with  very  steep 
slopes  to  the  stream.  The  alluvial  deposits  along  the  river 
reach  a  height  of  about  twenty-five  feet  above  the  river 
level.  During  the  enchente  these  are  sometimes  at  least 
overflowed.  The  lands  here  are  very  fertile,  and  the  whole 
country  appears  to  be  densely  wooded,  but  uninhabited. 

Slate  conglomerate  and  sandstone  continue  to  show  them 
selves  in  the  river-bank  for  a  mile  or  more  below  the  Caxoei 
rinha,  when  to  these  rocks  succeeds  a  fine-grained  bluish 
slaty  rock,  an  altered  shale,  in  which  I  could  find  no  trace 
of  fossils. 

A  few  rods  above  the  fazenda  of  Sisterio  there  are  some 
ledges  of  a  fine-grained,  very  hard,  bluish,  compact,  altered 
sandstone,  with  occasional  bands  of  grit  and  conglomerate, 
and  often  very  beautifully  obliquely  laminated.  In  this  rock 
I  observed  remains  of  plants,  and  one  surface  of  rock  had  the 
impressions  of  several  stems  of  a  thick-noded  equisetaceous 
plant.  One  stem  showed  three  nodes  and  another  two,  the 
length  of  the  internodes  being  about  three  inches.  Owing 
to  the  hardness  of  the  rock,  I  was  able  to  bring  away  only 
the  impression  of  a  single  node.  This  plant  resembles  in  its 
swollen  nodes  a  plant  not  uncommon  in  the  upper  Devonian 
rocks  of  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  and  called  Astcrophyl- 
lites  ?  scutigera  Dawson.  These  beds  appear  to  me  to  be 
palaeozoic. 

Below  this  point  the  river  valley  becomes  wider  and  the 
alluvial  lands  more  extensive,  though  the  river  itself  is  not 


244  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

so  very  wide,  as  it  averages  for  a  considerable  distance  only 
about  three  hundred  feet.  The  country  is  abundantly  for 
est-clothed,  and  the  river-banks,  which  are  very  fertile,  are 
more  or  less  cultivated,  several  large  fazendas  being  scattered 
along  the  river.  Some  of  these  are  very  picturesquely  situ- 
ted,  and  are  surrounded  by  orange,  banana,  jack  and  cocoa 
trees.  Cacao  (  Theobroma  Cacao}  is  quite  extensively  cul 
tivated  here.  This  plant  is  a  native  of  the  Amazonas,  where 
it  flourishes  almost  without  culture  ;  *  the  cacaoeiros,  when 
once  they  have  begun  to  bear  fruit,  requiring  little  care.  It 
needs  a  warm  damp  climate  and  a  rich  alluvial  soil,  and 
appears  to  suffer  nothing  from  an  occasional  freshet.  South 
of  the  Amazonas  it  is  cultivated  but  rarely,  though  even  in 
the  province  of  Bahia  there  are  some  quite  large  plantations, 
especially  at  Ilhdos  on  the  Pardo,  and  at  Valenga.  I  saw 
no  cacao  in  the  province  of  Espirito  Santo.  A  little  is  cul 
tivated  in  the  province  of  Rio  de  Janeiro.  In  the  Amazon 
ian  region  the  fruit,  when  ripe,  is  collected  twice  a  year 
and  dried  in  the  sun  ;  the  seeds  are  then  separated  from  the 
shells,  and  are  employed  principally  for  the  manufacture  of 
chocolate  or  other  preparations  for  beverages.  They  furnish 
a  thick  yellow  fatty  substance  which  is  sometimes  extracted 
and  used  for  various  purposes. 

Coffee  does  not  produce  well  here.  The  trees  grow  very 
rank  and  high,  with  spreading  branches ;  but  the  berries  ripen 
very  unequally,  and  not  unfrequently  have  to  be  gathered  six 
times  during  the  year.  This  is  owing  to  the  peculiar  climate 
of  the  region.  In  Rio  de  Janeiro,  Minas,  and  elsewhere, 
there  are  well-defined  wet  and  dry  seasons  during  the  year, 
and  these  appear  to  be  necessary  for  the  successful  culture 
of  coffee  ;  but  here  on  the  Pardo  a  very  large  quantity  of 

*  See  Bates,  The  Naturalist  on  the  Amazons,  pp.  87  and  162. 


PROVINCE   OF   BAHIA.  245 

rain  falls,  and  is  distributed  throughout  the  entire  year, 
making  the  climate  very  damp,  so  that  while  it  is  especially 
adapted  for  the  culture  of  cacao  it  does  not  do  for  coffee. 
On  the  higher  chapada  lands,  however,  where  the  soil  is 
sandy  and  drier,  coffee  and  cotton  may  be  cultivated. 
Alluvial,  flat,  damp  lands  are  nowhere  proper  for  coffee, 
which  flourishes  best  on  hillsides. 

The  jack  (Artocarpus  Braziliensis  Gom.)  is  cultivated 
in  Brazil,  particularly  in  the  province  of  Bahia  and  to  the 
north,  though  I  have  seen  it  at  Sao  Matheos,  and  occasion 
ally  as  far  south  as  Rio.  It  also  occurs  in  Minas  Geraes, 
but  in  the  province  of  Bahia  it  becomes  of  considerable  im 
portance.  The  timber  is  valuable  for  building  purposes,  being 
very  durable  and  strong.  The  fruit  is  immense,  being  some 
times  a  foot  and  a  half  in  the  longer  diameter.  It  consists 
of  a  stringy,  mucilaginous,  sweet,  and  nutritious  pulp,  in 
which  are  imbedded  large  seeds,  which,  when  cooked,  are 
edible  and  nourishing,  and  are  largely  used  for  food.  In 
some  parts  a  kind  of  farinha  is  prepared  from  them,  but 
its  use  is  by  no  means  general.  The  Fruita  pao  or  bread 
fruit,  Artocarpus  incisa,  is  also  cultivated  in  Brazil,  and 
may  be  seen  very  frequently  in  the  province  of  Bahia. 

The  forests  on  the  banks  of  the  Pardo  remind  one  of  the 
Doce  in  their  luxuriance.  The  trees  by  the  river-side  are 
loaded  with  parasites  and  interlaced  with  pendent  rope-like 
cip6s.  Ferns  are  very  numerous,  and  one  species,  with 
beautiful  fringed  pinnae,  climbs  up  the  trees  to  a  height  of 
forty  feet  or  more.  One  sees  here  a  species  of  grass  called 
Capim  da  Colonia,  (an  exotic  ?)  which  has  been  introduced 
on  the  Pardo,  and  has  spread  within  the  last  few  years 
quite  extensively  over  the  river-banks.  Jit  the  Estreito 
there  is  an  isolated  patch  of  tertiary,  but  below  that  the 


246  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

lands  bordering  the  river  are  all  low.  A  short  distance  be 
low  the  Furado,  a  channel  cut  across  a  bend  in  the  river, 
the  lands  become  lower  and  less  heavily  wooded,  and 
aninga  and  Guaxuma  bushes  appear  on  the  banks,  —  an 
infallible  sign  of  the  approach  to  salt  or  brackish  water. 
There  is  a  fern  common  to  the  mouths  of  the  rivers  on  the 
coast  which  appears  to  prefer  this  kind  of  water.  It  has 
a  tall,  erect,  narrow  frond,  with  stiff,  long,  narrow  pinnules 
bent  upward  toward  the  stem.*  It  grows  abundantly  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  Furado,  on  the  muddy  banks  reached  by  the 
brackish  water. 

From  Cannavieiras  to  the  Rio  Poxim  runs  a  canal,  sepa 
rated  from  the  sea  by  a  beach-ridge,  and  thence  northward 
this  same  canal  extends  to  the  Commandatuba,  and  is  said 
to  afford  water  communication  to  the  latter  river  from  the 
Pardo.  The  Commandatuba  flows  into  this  channel,  which 
is  prolonged  just  behind  the  beach  for  some  distance  north 
ward  before  it  opens  out  into  the  sea.  At  the  Barra  da 
Commandatuba  a  colony  has  been  established,  and  there  is 
a  little  village  of  thirty  or  more  houses  there.  The  shore  be 
tween  the  Commandatuba  and  the  Una  is  low  and  flat,  but 
a  short  distance  inland  one  sees  the  tertiary  slopes,  which 
stretch  along  northward  from  the  Jequitinhonha  and  Pardo. 

The  Una  is  a  little  river  which,  according  to  Prince  Neu 
Wied,  is  so  dry  at  ebb  tide  as  to  be  easily  forded.  There 
are  some  excellent  lands  on  this  river,  and  the  forests  are 
rich  in  jacaranda  and  other  valuable  woods.  This  river  is 
noteworthy  for  bending  northward  just  before  reaching  the 
sea,  and  flowing  a  little  distance  behind  the  beach-ridge. 

Opposite  the  mouth  of  the  Pardo  several  high  hills,  lying 
t 

*  This  must  be  a  species  well  known,  but  in  the  absence  of  specimens  I 
cannot  give  its  name. 


PROVINCE   OF  BAHIA.  247 

some  twenty  miles  inland  west  of  Commandatuba,  are  visible 
at  sea,  and  appear  to  be  gneiss,  but  when  off  the  Una  a 
heavy  mountain  range,  with  outlines  like  those  of  the  gneiss 
hills  north  and  south,  is  seen  stretching  oif  northward,  and 
traceable  beyond  Ilheos,  probably  tying  in  with  the  moun 
tains  of  Camamu.  This  range  is  called  the  Serra  de 
Itaraca.*  Some  of  the  hills  in  this  range  must  be  three  thou 
sand  feet  in  height  or  more.  I  insert  here  an  outline  sketch  of 
this  coast,  to  show  the  character  of  the  topography.  I  was 


much  struck  with  the  outline  of  the  table-topped  hill  on  the 
right,  which  appears  to  be  composed  of  soft  horizontal  rocks. 
May  it  not  be  an  outlier  of  the  great  tertiary  sheet  that 
covers  so  large  an  area  in  the  interior,  and  which  in  some 
places  must  have  extended  down  to  the  coast  before  the 
deposition  of  the  coast  tertiary  beds  ?  I  would  suggest  a 
comparison  between  it  and  the  hills  of  Monte  Alegre  on  the 
Amazon  as. 

From  the  Una  northwards  the  tertiary  plains  descend  to 
the  coast  and  extend,  with  high,  steep,  wooded,  rarely  per 
pendicular  slopes,  seaward  to  Ilheos.  A  few  insignificant 
little  streams  empty  into  the  sea  along  this  coast.  As  a 
general  thing,  a  strip  of  flat  sandy  or  marshy  ground 
runs  along  under  the  bluffs.  The  Piassaba  palm  (Attalea 
funifera)  grows  very  abundantly  on  the  slopes  and  the 
plain  above,  as  Prince  Neu-Wied  has  remarked.  This 
author  says  that  he  did  not  see  it  anywhere  north  of  Ilheos. 
It  now  covers  large  tracts  on  the  Rio  Paraguassu,  below 

*  Prince  Neu-Wied  says  that  gold  is  found  here. 


248  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

Caxoeira,  and  along  the  Bahia  and  Sao  Francisco,  and  its 
fibre  is  quite  an  important  article  of  commerce.  Prince  Neu 
Wied  speaks  of  finding  rounded  fragments  of  pumice  *  on  the 
shore  near  this  place,  and  states  his  belief  that  they  were 
drifted  to  the  Brazilian  coast  from  the  island  of  Ascension.! 
He  speaks  of  finding  them  on  the  shore  near  Porto  Seguro, 
and  I  have  picked  up  large  quantities  on  the  island  of  Santa 
Barbara  dos  Abrolhos. 

The  little  village  of  Olivenca  is  situated  on  the  top  of  a 
hill  by  the  shore,  about  nine  miles  south  of  Ilheos.  Its  in 
habitants,  civilized  Indians,  employ  themselves  in  making 
straw  hats,  baskets,  <fec.,  which  they  send  to  Ilheos  by  way 
of  the  beach,  on  mule-back.  They  plant  only  enough  to 
support  themselves. 

As  above  remarked,  in  speaking  of  the  Rio  Pardo,  it  was 
believed  that  that  river  divided,  part  of  its  waters  flowing 
into  the  sea  at  Cannavieiras,  while  another  part,  under 
the  name  of  the  Rio  Cachoeira,  flowed  into  the  bay  of  Sao 
Jorge  dos  Ilhe'os.  There  is  a  road,  or  rather  trail,  through 
the  forest  following  this  river  into  Minas,  and  Prince  Neu 
Wied  travelled  over  it,  crossing  the  head-waters  of  the 
Cachoeira.  He  says  nothing  about  that  river  being  only 
an  offset  from  the  Pardo,  and  in  his  map  of  the  coast  be 
tween  the  twelfth  and  fifteenth  parallels,  after  Arrowsmith, 
he  represents  the  Rio  Cachoeira  as  taking  its  source  very 
near  the  Pardo,  at  some  considerable  distance  below  the 
Villa  da  Vareda,  and  this  is  probably  correct.  Just  above 
the  mouth  of  the  river  a  small  river  called  the  Rio  do  Fun- 
dao  empties  into  it. 

*  Rei'se,  Vol.  II.  p.  85. 

t  This  hardly  seems  probable,  since  there  is  a  southward-flowing  current 
setting  along  the  Brazilian  coast  south  of  Cape  St.  Roque. 


PROVINCE   OF   BAHIA.  249 

In  the  year  1817  Prince  Max.  zu  Neu-Wied  made  a 
journey  into  the  interior  from  Ilhdos  to  the  borders  of  Minas, 
and  then  went  by  land  through  the  interior  to  the  Bay  of 
Todos  os  Santos.  His  voyage  is  full  of  interest,  but  I  ex 
tract  from  it  only  a  few  points  which  bear  upon  the  geogra 
phy,  natural  history,  &c.  of  the  country. 

His  picture  of  the  forest  on  the  river  near  Ilh^os  is  so 
grand,  and  so  true  to  nature,  that  I  translate  a  portion 
of  it :  — 

"  Life  and  luxuriant  plant  growth  is  spread  everywhere. 
Nowhere  is  there  a  little  spot  without  plants.  On  all  stems 
species  of  Passiftora,  Caladium,  Dracontium,  Piper,  Bego 
nia,  and  Epidendrum,  besides  many  ferns,  lichens,  and 
mosses  of  different  kinds,  bloom,  climb,  luxuriate,  and  at 
tach  themselves.  The  forest  is  made  up  of  the  genera  Cocos, 
Melastoma,  Bignonia,  Rhcxia,  Mimosa,  Ingd,  Bombax,  Ilex, 
Laurus,  Myrthvs,  Eugenia,  Jacaranda,  Jatropha,  Visinla, 
Lecythis,  Ficiis,  and  a  thousand  other,  for  the  most  part, 
unknown  species  of  trees,  whose  fallen  flowers  one  sees 
lying  on  the  ground,  and  can  hardly  guess  from  which  giant 
tree  they  came.  Others  covered  with  blossoms  shine  afar, 
white,  bright  yellow,  bright'  red,  rose-red,  violet,  sky-blue, 
&c.,  and  in  swampy  places  there  rise,  thickly  crowded  to 
gether,  the  great  elliptical  leaves  of  the  Heliconias  on 
long  stems  often  ten  to  twelve  feet  high,  and  noteworthy 
for  their  bright  red  or  fiery  flowers.  On  the  highest 
trunks,  high  up  in  the  forks  of  the  branches,  grow  immense 
tufts  of  Bromelias,  with  large  clusters  \_Blumenkolben  und 
Traubeii]  of  light  cinnabar-red  flowers,  or  of  some  other 
color  ;  from  these  fall  great  bundles  of  roots  like  cords, 
which  hang  down  to  the  earth  and  form  a  new  obstruction 
for  travellers.  Such  bromelia-clumps  fill  all  the  trees, 
11  * 


250  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

and  when  with  the  lapse  of  years  they  die,  and  are  dislodged 
by  the  wind,  they  fall  with  a  crash.  A  thousand  llianas,  from 
the  slightest  thread  to  the  thickness  of  a  man's  thigh,  and  of 
hard,  tough  wood  (Bauhinia,  Banisteria,  Paulinia,  <fcc.), 
entwine  the  trunks,  climb  even  to  the  highest  top  of  the 
tree,  where  they  blossom  and  bear  fruit  where  no  human 
eye  can  see  them.  Many  of  them  are  so  wonderfully 
formed  that  one  cannot  look  upon  them  without  amazement, 
as,  for  instance,  certain  species  of  Bauhinia.  From  many  of 
these  the  trunk  around  which  they  had  wound  decays,  and 
here  stands  a  giant  coiled  serpent,  whose  origin  makes  itself 
easily  understood  in  this  way."  * 

In  penetrating  into  the  interior  the  country  becomes  grad 
ually  higher,  and  at  the  same  time  drier,  while  the  forest 
becomes  less  and  less  luxuriant,  and  finally  passes,  on  the 
higher  ground,  into  a  catinga,  which  begins,  on  the  road  to 
Minas,  at  Porto  da  Canoa,  on  the  Rio  Cachoeira.  Bromelia- 
ceous  plants  become  more  abundant,  with  several  species  of 
Solanacece,  Mimosas,  and  the  stinging  Cansancao  (Jatroplia 
urens*).  In  the  valleys,  however,  the  forest  is  still  dense  and 
thick.  In  the  catinga  grows  a  cactus  (Cereus)  with  im 
mense  stems  reaching  a  height  of  fifty  or  sixty  feet,  with  a 
diameter  of  two  feet.  On  the  western  side  of  the  Ribeirao 
da  Issara  is  a  range  of  hills,  called  the  Serra  da  Sussuarana, 
which  are  not  very  high,  but  covered  with  masses  of 
loose  rocks  and  stones,  with  a  thick  growth  of  catinga. 
The  country  onward  to  the  Giboya,  a  little  stream  flowing 
southward  into  the  Pardo,  is  covered  with  catinga.  Here, 
as  elsewhere,  the  low  grounds  of  the  valleys  are  filled  with 
high  forests,  but  the  woods  on  the  slopes  and  high  lands 
grow  lower,  and  come  under  the  class  of  catinga.  The 

*  Raise,  Band  II.  Scite  106. 


PROVINCE   OF   BAHIA.  251 

Prince  says  that  the  Giboya  flows  over  Granit-tafeln 
(gneiss).  I  should  judge  from  his  description  that  the 
country  between  the  Giboya  and  Ilh^os  was  of  the  same 
character.  A  short  distance  to  the  westward  of  the  Giboya 
is  a  range  of  mountains,  "  whose  hills,  of  a  considerable 
height,  have  a  rounded  outline,  and  are  strewed  over  with 
masses  of  rocks  and  granite  blocks  in  which  especially  very 
large  pieces  of  white  quartz  occur.  The  whole  vicinity  is 
overgrown  with  very  thick  forest  or  catinga.  These 
mountains  bear  the  name  of  Serra  do  Mundo  Novo.  The 
first  mountain  is  the  highest ;  it  rises,  it  is  true,  with  gentle 
slopes,  but  it  requires  a  full  hour  to  ascend  it.  Thence  on 
ward  hills  and  valleys  alternate,  until  one  at  last  descends 
into  a  considerable  depression.  The  Rio  Pardo  flows  to  the 

left,  in  a  deep  valley  parallel  with  the  road So  soon 

as  we  had  left  behind  us  the  fatiguing  Serra  we  found  the 
wood  still  more  changed  into  catinga,  for  in  the  depression 
itself  it  was  only  40  -  60  feet  in  height,  filled  with  many 
bromelia  and  cactus  clumps,  hung  with  moss  tufts  (  Tillan- 
dsla),  arid  intermingled  with  many  kinds  of  trees  which 
reached  only  an  inconsiderable  height.  Here  is  found  the 
Pao  de  Leite  (in  all  probability  a  Ficus),  which  is  feared 
because  of  its  corrosive  milky  juice,  but  nowhere  was  seen 
the  beneficent,  nourishing  milk  of  the  Palo  de  Vaca,  which 
Humboldt  has  described  ;  this  milk  would  in  our  situation 
be  a  great  comfort.  Farther  on  we  found  the  cork-like 
Barrigudo-tree  (Bombax),  which  here  grew  to  only  a  small 
height,  many  species  of  Mimosa,  of  Bignonia,  and  so  forth, 
and  between  them  rock  masses  and  granite  blocks.  All  this 
shows  that  one  has  gradually  ascended  from  the  wet,  dark 
region  of  the  coast  forests  to  higher  and  drier  country." 
This  description  is  very  interesting,  because  it  shows  that 


252        GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL  GEOGRAPHY. 

here  we  have  a  region  which  has  not  been  so  much  affected 
by  decomposition  as  the  coast  belt,  and  it  shows  us  how  the 
forest  zone  narrows  down  as  we  go  northward. 

Beyond  the  Barra  da  Vareda  one  enters  a  catinga  wood, 
and  gradually  ascends,  the  hills  being  gently  rounded,  and, 
as  the  Prince  remarks,  announcing  the  open  plains  and 
ridges  which  make  up  so  large  a  part  of  the  interior  of  Bra 
zil.  "  The  wood  has  in  many  places  lagSas  grown  up  with 
swamp  reeds,  in  others  extensive  naked  places  which  have 
been  burned  over  so  as  to  produce  grass  for  the  cattle.  Such 
places  become  covered  immediately  with  high  ferns  (Pteris 
caudata),  whose  horizontally  placed  fronds  wear  an  agree 
able  look.  With  the  end  of  the  wood  one  reaches  pleasant 
green  fields,  which,  despite  the  dry  climate,  appeared  to  have 
the  fresh  green  of  our  European  meadows." 

Going  westward  the  country  becomes  more  and  more  open, 
and  there  are  extensive  open  flat  tracts  of  great  extent, 
covered  with  a  sparse  catinga  vegetation,  immense  can- 
delebra-like  cactuses,  and  ant-hills,  and  diversified  by  shal 
low  lagoas.  From  Tamburil  to  the  boundary  of  Minas 
Geracs  one  passes  through  a  monotonous  and  somewhat 
hilly  country,  cut  through  by  deep  ravines,  and  covered  by 
catinga.  So  soon  as  one  has  climbed  the  ridges  which  uni 
formly  command  one  another,  and  throughout  are  covered 
in  the  same  manner  with  catinga  or  carrasco,  small  narrow 
fields,  grown  up  with  many  rush-like  grasses,  are  reached. 

In  some  places  near  Ressaque  the  Prince  found  mica 
slates  with  staurotides  in  single  crystals,  together  with 
hornblende.  This  succession  of  gneiss  and  mica  slate  cor 
responds  to  what  I  observed  on  entering  the  basin  of  the 
Jequitinhonha,  but  I  have  seen  no  staurotides  in  Brazil. 

The  carrasco   is  a  more  or  less  thick,  usually  matted, 


PROVINCE   OF  BAHIA.  253 

growth  of  bushes,  with  stiff,  gnarly  stems,  which  grow  to  a 
height  of  ten  or  twelve  feet,  and  this  is  the  character  of  the 
vegetation  of  a  large  part  of  the  campos  of  the  interior,  par 
ticularly  of  the  wide  elevated  plains. 

The  country  grows  flatter  and  flatter  in  going  into  the  in 
terior,  and  at  the  same  time  the  bushes  grow  lower  until 
the  campos  geraes  are  reached,  where,  "  far  as  the  eye  can 
reach,  open  wooded  plains,  or  gently  rounded  hills  and 
ridges,  are  spread  out,  covered  with  dried  grass  or  scat 
tered  bushes." 

"  In  the  valleys  which  intersect  these  wide,  naked  ridges 
and  plains,  one  finds  the  banks  of  the  rivers  and  brooks 
bordered  by  woods.  Here  also  single  clamps  of  bushes  are 
found,  hidden  here  and  there  in  the  deep  places,  particularly 
as  one  approaches  the  borders  of  Minas  Geraes,  and  this 
kind  of  wood  is  in  part  one  of  the  peculiar  characteristics  of 
these  open  places.  One  often  believes  that  he  has  a  contin 
uous  plain  before  him,  when  he  comes  suddenly  upon  a  nar 
row,  steep-sided  valley,  hears  deep  below  him  the  murmur 
of  a  stream,  and  looks  down  upon  the  forest-trees  which,  va 
riously  colored  with  numerous  flowers,  line  its  banks.  Con 
stant  winds  prevail  here  during  the  cold  season,  with,  for 
the  most  part,  a  cloudy  sky,  and  in  the  dry  months  a  burn 
ing,  oppressive  heat,  whereby  the  grass  is  dried  up,  the  re 
gion  is  glowing  hot,  and  there  is  a  scarcity  of  potable  water." 

In  the  winter  these  high  lands  are  quite  cool,  and  hail  not 
unfrequently  falls.  Prince  Neu  Wied  describes  a  large  tract 
over  which  the  vegetation  was  dead  and  leafless,  and  he 
was  informed  that  it  had  been  killed  by  frost,  though  it  may 
be  that  the  effect  had  been  produced  by  excessive  dryness. 
To  one  accustomed  to  the  climate  of  the  coast,  that  of  these 
high  regions  is  apt  to  be  very  disagreeable.  The  Prince 


254  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

found  the  temperature  early  on  a  foggy  morning  14° 
Reaumur  =  63.5°  Fahr.,  and  at  noon  on  a  dry  sunshiny 
day  19-|°  Reaumur,  =  75.87°,  and  this  was  just  at  the  end 
of  the  rainy  season,  in  February.  On  the  22d  January,  at 
Catole",  he  found  in  the  shade  between  two  and  three 
o'clock,  P.  M.,  a  temperature  of  24|-°  Reaumur,  =  87.12° 
Fahr.,  and  he  states  that  it  sometimes  reached  30°  Reau 
mur,  =  95.50°  Fahr.,  in  the  shade. 

These  campos  stretch  westward  to  the  Serra  das  Almas, 
and  southward  to  the  valley  of  the  Jequitinhonha,*  and  are 
only  sparsely  inhabited,  principally  by  herders  of  cattle. 
Agriculture  is  confined  to  the  bottoms  of  valleys  and  moist 
places. 

The  Etna,  or  American  ostrich  (Rhea  Americana),  occurs 
in  abundance  on  the  campos  of  the  basin  of  the  Pardo,  to 
gether  with  the  celebrated  seriema  (Palamedea  cristata 
Linn.,  Dicholophus  cristatus  Illiger),  a  large  bird  the  size 
of  a  crane,  very  swift  of  foot,  and  noted  for  its  shrill  voice 
like  that  of  the  peacock,  whence  the  English  name  crested 
screamer,  sometimes  applied  to  it.f 

With  reference  to  the  climate  of  this  part  of  the  coast, 
Neu-Wied  says  that  generally  the  months  of  February, 
March,  April,  and  May  are  the  rainy  months.  The  four 
months  following  are  the  cold  season,  while  the  hottest 
weather  is  in  October,  November,  December,  and  January. 
Our  author  says  that  he  never  observed  a  lower  temperature 
than  13°  Reaumur,  nor  a  much  higher  one  than  30°  Reumur. 

*  See  description  of  the  campos  of  the  Comarca  da  Jequitinhonha  in  Chap. 
III.  of  this  work. 

t  See  Eitg.  Warming,  Skildringer  af  Naturen  i  del  tropislce  BrasUien.  V.  Cam- 
posdyrtne,  Tidsskriji  for  Pop.  Fremst.  af  Nat.,  Trcdie  Rsekke,  Femte  Binds, 
Tredie  Hefte,  1868,  p.  231.  This  is  a  very  interesting  article  on  the  fauna  of 
the  campos  region. 


PROVINCE   OF  BAHIA.  255 

On  the  5th  March,  one  of  the  hottest  days  of  the  voyage, 
Neu-Wied  observed  a  temperature  of  28.50°  Reaumur,  and 
in  the  twilight  of  the  same  day  15°  Reaumur,  and  an  hour 
later,  when  the  dew  had  begun  to  fall,  14°  Reaumur,  which 
observations  are  interesting  as  showing  the  diurnal  varieties 
of  temperature. 

Arraial  da  Conquista,  or  Victoria,  is  the  name  of  a  little 
village  lying  a  few  leagues  to  the  north  of  the  Barra  do 
Vareda,  and  noted  for  its  cotton  and  large  herds  of  cattle, 
which  are  sent  to  Bahia  to  be  sold. 

On  the  voyage  to  Bahia,  near  a  place  called  Urubu,  lying 
between  the  Rios  Caxoeira  and  Contas,  Neu-Wied  describes 
brooks  whose  waters  were  salt,  discolored,  and  whitish,  and 
he  speaks  of  others  near  the  valley  of  the  Contas.  Thus 
far  a  great  part  of  the  country  between  the  Arraial  da  Con 
quista  and  the  Rio  das  Contas  has  been  hilly  and  more  or 
less  wooded. 

Between  the  Arraial  da  Conquista  and  Os  Possoes  (Po^oes) 
the  country  is  very  uneven  and  covered  with  low  woods. 
Neu-Wied  calls  attention  to  a  very  interesting  fact  stated  by 
Humboldt,*  that  the  number  of  species  of  social  plants  in 

*  Alex,  de  Humboldt,  De  Distributione  Geographica  Plantarum,  1817,  pp. 
51,  52:  — 

"  Rarissimrc  autem  sunt  plantae  sociatae  (Plantes  societies,  gcsellige  pflanzen ) 
in  plaga  oeqiiinoctiali.  Difficiliter  enim,  ex  genere  arborum  Silvis  Orinocensibus 
nomen  ponas,  quippe  in  quibus  magnus  specierum  numerus  a?que  commixtus 
sit.  Neque  in  locis  planis  sub  zona  torrida  Novi  Orbis,  plantas  sociatas  fere 
alias  ullas  enumeres  prater  Rbizopboram  Manglen,  Sesuvium  Portulacastrum, 
Croton  argenteum,  Bambusam  Guaduam,  atque  propter  capita  fluvii  Amazo- 
num  et  in  calidis  Provincial  Jean  de  Bracamoras,  amoenissima  nemora  Bouguin- 
villea  et  Godoya  repleta.  Augentur  vero  stirpes  catcrvatim  nascentes  quo 
magis  per  Mexicanum  imperium  versus  Cancrum  procedis,  vel  per  cacumina 
Andium  te  tollis,  ubi  altitudine  1800  haxapodarum  repcries  Escalloniam  myr 
tilloidem,  Brathim  juniperinam  et  multijugas  Molinae  species." 


256        GEOLOGY  AND 'PHYSICAL  GEOGRAPHY. 

the  tropics  is  very  small,  and  says  that  not  unfrequently 
we  find  large  tracts  taken  possession  of  by  the  samambaia 
{Mertensia  dichotoma  or  Pteris  caudata  ?)  to  the  exclusion 
of  all  other  shrubs.  This  is  the  case  all  along  the  coast. 
It  is  apt  to  spring  up  in  abandoned  dry  fields,  and  bury 
them  with  a  thick  mantle  of  foliage.  I  observed  it  growing 
at  Itabapuana,  Sao  Matheos,  and  in  numerous  other  places 
on  the  coast,  where  it  was  so  abundant  as  to  be  a  nuisance, 
and  I  have  noted  it  as  being  very  common  in  Minas.  It 
seems  to  have  the  same  habit  as  our  Pteris  aquilina,  which 
in  the  same  way  takes  possession  of  fields  and  drives 
everything  else  out.  The  rapid  growth  of  the  samam 
baia  in  Brazil  is  often  aided  by  fires  set  in  the  bushes  and 
grass  over  dry  places,  which  deplete  the  flora  and  give  the 
fern  a  more  open  field  to  grow  in.  The  most  remarkable 
social  plants  of  Eastern  Brazil  are  the  mangroves,  Cono- 
carpus  and  Avicennia,  in  addition  to  which  and  the  Pteris 
caudata  are  some  species  of  Rhexia,  Cecropia,  Big-nonia, 
together  with  the  Uba,Taquarassu,  some  grasses,  a  bamboo, 
and  the  dwarf  palm  of  the  coast,  Guriri.  The  Piassaba  and 
Carnahuba  palms  would  also  appear  to  merit  being  included 
under  this  head. 

Between  the  Arraial  da  Conquista  and  Os  Possoes,  Neu 
Wied  describes  a  locality  with  high,  gently  rounded  hills 
covered  with  the  samambaia,  and  he  states  that  sometimes 
such  tracts  are  burned  over  so  as  to  produce  a  growth  of 
grass.  The  whole  country  here  is  exceedingly  dry,  and 
during  the  hot  season  the  vegetation  is  withered  and 
scorched.  Water  then  fails,  and  cattle  die  if  not  removed. 
In  this  dry  region  is  found  a  beautiful  Bignonia,  eight  to  ten 
feet  high,  with  large  bright  citron-yellow  blossoms,  and  a 
Cassia,  together  with  the  Licurl  palm,  a  species  which  I 


PROVINCE   OF   BAHIA.  257 

found  growing  over  the  taboleiras  at  Alagoinhas  on  the 
Bahia  and  Sao  Francisco  Railroad.  The  soil  is  of  a  red 
dish-yellow  color.  The  deep  valleys  are  filled  with  dense 
forest.  Everywhere  one  sees  the  round  yellow  hills  of  the 
white  ant  scattered  about.  Carapatos*  are  exceedingly 
numerous,  incrusting  twigs  so  as  to  make  them  fairly  red, 
and  worrying  the  traveller  by  day  and  night.  Between  Os 
Possoes  and  Urubu  the  country  is  of  the  same  desolate 
character.  In  this  region  many  cattle  are  pastured,  and  in 
some  localities  a  little  cotton  is  planted.  Of  the  journey 
from  Urubu  to  the  Fazenda  da  Cachoeira  Neu-Wied  draws 
a  striking  picture  of  the  country  in  these  words  :  f  "I  fol 
lowed  the  way  through  an  inhospitable  deserted  wilderness, 
in  which,  crowded  together,  mountain  after  mountain  rose 
behind  one  another ;  all  lay  before  us,  monotonous,  covered 
with  thick-woven  brushwood,  rough  and  wild,  and  mingled 
with  projecting  rock  masses.  Some  of  these  mountains  are 
naked  and  consist  of  variously  formed  masses  of  rock,  as  a 
general  thing  gently  rounded  above  ;  in  the  places  bare  of 
wood  the  soil  shows  itself  as  a  red-yellow  clay.  Bushes  of 
finely-plumed  thorny  mimosas,  mingled  here  and  there  with 
beautiful  flowering  plants,  amongst  which  I  will  mention 
only  one  splendid  plant,  a  new  species  of  Ipomoea,  with 
large,  brilliant  fiery  blossoms,  made  on  both  sides  a  border 
to  the  way." 

"  The  rock  masses  of  the  strangest  forms,  often  like 
towers  or  pulpits,  standing  singly  out  above  the  bushes,  are 
everywhere  in  these  mountains  inhabited  by  a  little  cavia," 
called  the  Moc6, — Ccelogenys  rupestris.  "  In  these  dry  rocky 

*  Bates  says  that  there  are  two  species  on  the  Amazonas.     See  Naturalist 
on  the  Amazons,  p.  173. 
t  Reise*  Vol.  II.  p.  236. 

Q 


258  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

woods  there  reigned  a  heat  beyond  belief;  not  a  breeze 
stirred,  and  the  rays  of  the  sun  were  reflected  from  every 
side ;  only  the  proud  Araras  [macaws]  in  our  neighborhood 
appeared  to  enjoy  it.  They  flew  screaming  about,  while 
the  most  of  the  other  birds  took  their  siesta  on  the  shady 
branches." 

The  mouth  of  the  river  at  Ilhe'os  forms  a  very  good  har 
bor,  and  is  entered  by  the  coasting  steamers.  Where  the 
valley  of  the  river  opens  out  into  the  sea  are  two  isolated 
gneiss  hills,  standing  one  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  east  of 
the  other.  The  western  of  these  hills,  once  an  island,  has 
been  joined  to  the  bluff  on  the  north  by  a  broad  strip  of  sand, 
on  which  is  built  the  villa  of  Sao  Jorge  dos  Ilhe'os.  This 
causes  the  river  to  make  an  abrupt  bend  southward.  The 
eastern  hill,  also  formerly  an  island,  has  been  joined  to  the 
low  lands  on  the  south  by  a  strip  of  sand,  which  compels 
the  river  to  turn  towards  the  north,  when  it  enters  the 
sea  between  the  two  hills.  The  mouth  of  the  river  is  shal 
low,  but  is  usually  entered  without  much  difficulty.  The 
waves  beat  very  heavily  on  this  coast,  and  it  is  interesting  to 
see  how  they  are  striving  to  throw  up  a  spit  across  the  river- 
mouth  on  the  northern  side.  At  high  tide  the  water  flows 
through  a  channel  cut  across  the  sand-beach,  uniting  the 
eastern  island  with  the  shore ;  but  the  waves  tend  to  increase 
the  height  of  this  beach,  and  the  river  is  obliged  to  escape 
around  the  western  side  of  this  hill.  To  the  northeast  are 
the  reefs  Sororoca,  Itapitinga,  and  Itaipins,  which  I  have 
not  examined,  and  north  of  these  are  the  islets  Ilha  Grande 
and  Ilha  Pequena,  distant  about  two  miles  north,  a  few  de 
grees  east  of  the  barra. 

The  town  of  Ilhe'os  is  about  as  large  as  Caravellas,  but 
is  of  much  more  importance.     The  banks  of  the  Rio  Cax- 


PROVINCE   OF   BAHIA.  259 

oeira  and  of  its  tributaries  near  Ilheos  are  thickly  set 
tled,  and  there  are  many  large  fazendas  for  the  cultiva 
tion  of  cacao,  sugar,  &c.,  which  products  are  exported  to 
Bahia. 

The  rocks  of  the  hill  on  the  western  side  of  the  barra 
consist  of  a  well-bedded  gneiss  like  that  of  Bahia,  but  much 
disturbed  and  broken  up.  The  approximate  strike  is  north 
a  few  degrees  east. 

A  few  miles  to  the  north  of  Ilheos  the  little  river  Itahype 
empties  into  the  sea.  The  banks  of  the  river  are  largely 
settled.  The  river  itself  is  very  narrow,  but  deep,  and  alto 
gether  is  only  about  twenty-eight  miles  long.  On  the  north 
ern  side  is  a  little  lagoa  communicating  with  the  Itahype 
by  a  narrow  canal.  Neu-Wied  says  that  sea-shells  are  found 
on  the  banks  of  this  lake,  and  that  kettle-formed  holes,  like 
those  hollowed  by  the  action  of  the  sea,  are  to  be  seen  in  the 
rocks  bordering  it. 

Spix  and  Martius  found  coral  banks  in  the  lake,  show 
ing  that  it  was  formerly  a  bay  which  has  been  cut  off  from 
the  sea  by  the  throwing  up  of  a  beach  across  its  mouth. 
"  These  banks  show  themselves  in  many  places  in  the  lake 
at  a  depth  of  from  six  to  twelve  feet,"  and  furnish  material 
for  the  manufacture  of  lime.  The,  corals  observed  by  Spix 
and  Martius  were  referred  by  them  to  the  old  species  Mad- 
repora  cavernosa,  hexagona,  and  astroites,  Lam.* 

On  the  sea-shore  near  the  Serra  Grande,  south  of  the  Rio 
de  Contas,  Spix  and  Martius  found  "  banks,  five  to  six  feet 
high,  of  a  soft,  coal-black  substance  which  soiled  the  finger 
when  pressed,  and  which,  carefully  examined,  seemed  to 
be  made  up  of  coal  and  quartz  grains."  This  appears  to  be 
some  recent  formation. 

*  Von  Martius,  Reise,  Band  II.  Seite  684. 


260  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

From  Ilhe'os  northward  to  the  Rio  de  Contas  the  coast 
lands,  as  a  general  thing,  are  about  two  hundred  feet  in  height, 
and  level  topped,  with  abrupt,  steep  slopes  to  the  sea,  and 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  they  are  tertiary.  The  appear 
ance  of  the  coast  just  south  of  the  mouth  of  the  Contas  is 
represented  in  the  following  sketch.  I  am  told  that  the 


VIEW  OF  THE  COAST   SOUTH   OF   THE   RIO  DE   CONTAS. 

soils  of  these  plains  are  sandy,  but  are  in  part  quite  fertile. 
On  the  slopes  cacao  is  planted. 

The  Rio  de  Contas,  or  Jussiape,  is  a  considerable  river, 
which,  according  to  the  Diccionario  Geographico^  rises  eight 
leagues  to  the  northwest  of  the  Villa  de  Rio  de  Contas,  or  at 
a  distance  of  some  one  hundred  miles  from  the  sea  and  to 
the  west  of  the  Serra  de  Sincora.*  The  course  of  the  main 
stream  is  almost  east-west.  It  is  navigable  only  for  a  dis 
tance  of  some  four  leagues  above  its  mouth. 

The  lands  on  the  southern  side  at  the  mouth  of  the  river 
are  moderately  high,  and  two  or  more  rocky  islands  and  a 
reef  of  rocks  project  northward,  so  that  the  channel  of  the 
river  is  bent  toward  the  north,  as  is  the  case  at  Ilhe'os.  There 
are  other  rocky  points  on  the  same  side  of  the  river,  in  which 
a  rock  like  that  of  Bahia  is  exposed.  The  town  is  situated 
in  a  little  cove,  just  inside  the  bar,  on  the  southern  side.  I 
found  the  rock  in  the  hill  and  point  west  of  the  town  to  be 

*  According  to  Almeida,  it  takes  its  rise  in  a  lake  forty  or  fifty  miles  north 
of  the  Villa  do  Rio  de  Contas.  Burton  says  that  this  name  should  be  Rio 
das  Contas.  I  follow  Cazal,  Almeida,  and  the  common  usage  of  Brazilian 
writers. 


PROVINCE   OF   BAHIA.  261 

of  the  same  character  as  that  of  Bahia,  and  exposed  with  a 
strike  of  N.  45°  E.,  and  a  vertical  dip.  The  town  is  a  small 
one,  and  of  so  little  importance  that  the  coasting  steamers 
rarely  stop  there.  Its  commerce  consists  principally  in  fa- 
rinha,  of  which  something  like  50,000  sacks  are  exported 
every  year ;  cacao,  yearly  exportation  more  than  4,000  arro- 
bas;  coffee,  800  to  1,000  arrobas;  together  with  a  little  rice 
and  sugar,  and  large  quantities  of  woods,  especially  jaca- 
randd,  cedro,  putumujd,  vinhatico.  Along  the  river  above 
the  town  are  many  fazendas.  The  population  is  said  to  be 
increasing.  On  the  opposite  side  of  the  river  the  lands 
bordering  the  coast  are  flat,  sandy  along  shore,  but  inside 
they  are  largely  overgrown  with  mangroves.  The  beach 
extends  southward  in  a  sharp  point,  which  tends  to  close  up 
the  river  off  the  point  just  east  of  the  town  ;  but  the  current 
keeps  it  open.  The  bar  is  not  difficult,  and  there  is  good 
anchorage  for  vessels  off  the  town.  The  Rio  do  Contas  ap 
peared  to  me  to  be  about  the  size  of  the  Mucury.  The  ter 
tiary  bluffs  trend  off  northward  of  the  river,  gradually  leav 
ing  the  coast.  A  narrow  channel  coming  from  the  north 
and  flowing  through  the  low  lands,  parallel  with  the  coast, 
empties  into  the  river  opposite  the  town.  I  have  seen  in 
some  Brazilian  work  —  a  Rolciro,  if  I  rightly  remember  — 
a  statement  that  there  had  been  found  on  the  banks  of  this 
river  the  bones  of  some  immense  extinct  quadruped.  Spix 
and  Martius  also  refer  to  them.  (See  Chapter  VII.  of  this 
work.)* 

*  Cazal  speaks  of  the  existence,  in  different  part  of  Brazil,  of  the  bones  of 
an  immense  extinct  animal,  which  he  suggests  might  he  the  behemoth.  I 
translate  a  few  sentences  from  his  note  on  it.  He  says  :  "  Morse  gives  to  this 
quadruped  the  name  of  Mammoth,  and  says  that  the  Indians  of  North  America 
pretend  that  its  species  still  exists  in  the  woods  which  are  to  the  north  of  the 
great  lakes This  beast  must  have  been  of  a  slow  inarch,  not  proper 


262  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

In  18G6  I  touched  at  Camamu,  but  unfortunately  during 
bad  weather,  so  that  I  was  unable  to  see  much.  I  have 
never  revisited  the  spot.  I  regret  much  that  I  am  unable 
to  give  a  more  precise  and  detailed  description  of  the  bay 
on  which  it  is  situated,  for  it  is  of  great  interest,  both  to 
the  geologist  and  the  zoologist,  because  on  the  borders  of 
the  bay  are  the  turba  deposits  which  have  attracted  so  much 
attention,  while  off  the  mouth  of  the  bay  are  extensive  coral 
reefs.  This  bay,  and  the  streams  which  flow  into  it,  have 
been  most  erroneously  represented  on  the  maps  and  charts. 
Arrowsmith  represents  it  as  a  deep  wide  bay  opening  broad 
ly  to  the  sea,  half  as  large  as  the  Bahia  de  Todos  os  Santos, 
and  sown  with  little  islands  ;  and  Mouchez's  chart  gives  one 
really  no  idea  of  if.  My  friend,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Nicolay  of 
Bahia,  kindly  furnished  me  with  a  copy  of  a  recent  map  by 
Sr.  Jose  Nascimento,  which  is  here  subjoined,  not  only  be 
cause  of  its  value  as  a  contribution  to  the  hydrography  of 
the  coast,  but  because  Mr.  Nicolay  has  indicated  on  it  the 
localities  where  the  turba  occurs,  as  well  as  several  other 
points  of  interest. 

The    shores  of  the  bay  and  its  arms  are  for  the  most 

for  a  hunting  or  carnivorous  animal,  and  with  a  belly  so  capacious  that  only 
vegetables  could  suffice  to  nourish  it. 

"  Among  the  many  skeletons  which  have  been  encountered  in  the  different 
provinces  of  the  New  World,  perhaps  none  may  help  to  form  a  better  idea  of  the 
animal  than  the  skeleton  which  was  discovered,  at  the  close  of  the  past  century 
in  the  Termo  da  Villa  de  Rio  de  Contns,  by  the  persons  engaged  in  clearing  out 
a  hollow  in  the  rock  (caJdeirao  de  pedra),  in  order  to  make  a  tank  for  the  cattle. 
....  This  skeleton,  considerably  injured,  occupied  a  space  of  more  than 
thirty  paces  in  length  ;  the  ribs  were  a  palm  and  half  broad  ;  the  shin-bones 
were  of  the  length  of  a  man  of  medium  stature  ;  the  tusks  were  almost  a  brara 
in  length ;  a  molar  tooth,  without  the  root,  weighed  four  pounds ;  in  order 
to  remove  the  lower  jaw,  the  strength  of  four  men  was  necessary."  —  Coroifrnjia 
Brazilica,  p.  67,  note.  See  D'Archiac,  Palebntolotjie  Stratiymphique,  p.  231. 


PROVINCE   OF  BAHIA.  263 

part  flat,  and  largely  of  recent  origin,  and  there  are  exten 
sive  mangrove  swamps  bordering  them.  From  over  this 
region  the  tertiary  clays  have  been  almost  entirely  denuded. 
Gneiss  occurs  at  the  town,  and  just  to  the  westward  is  the 
considerable  range  of  hills  called  the  Serra  do  Condoru, 
which  is  a  continuation  northward  of  the  coast  serras.  It 
is  in  the  low  grounds  of  the  Marahu,  a  broad  river-like  arm 
extending  off  for  some  distance  to  the  south  of  the  bay,  that 
the  turba  deposits  are  found.  The  specimens  of  turba  which 
I  have  seen  were  of  a  very  light  material,  grayish  or  brownish 
in  color,  and  felty  in  texture.  The  material  burned  readily 
when  ignited  in  a  candle,  affording  an  abundant  smoky  flame, 
leaving  the  mass,  however,  of  the  same  dimensions  and  form 
as  before.  The  material  appears  to  be  merely  a  mud  im 
pregnated  with  bitumen ;  and  as  it  appears  to  exist  in  large 
quantities,  it  would  be  very  valuable  for  gas-making  or  the 
manufacture  of  kerosene.  Prof.  Arthur  M.  Edwards  of  New 
York,  the  microscopist,  informs  me  that  a  Mr.  Southworth 
brought  home  with  him  some  specimens  of  carbonized  wood, 
and  Prof.  Edwards  *  has  some  fragments  of  leaves  from  the 
locality,  but  they  are  unfortunately  too  badly  preserved  for 
identification.  Mr.  Nicolay  personally  examined  the  turba 
deposits,  and  has  kindly  furnished  me  with  the  following 
observations,  which  throw  some  little  light  on  the  mode  of 
occurrence  of  the  bituminous  layers,  though  their  age  is  still 
left  in  obscurity :  — 

*  Since  the  above  was  written,  I  learn  that  some  of  the  turba  distilled  in 
New  York  yielded  of  first  quality,  one  hundred  gallons  light,  clear  oil  to  the  ton  ; 
second  quality,  seventy-five  gallons.  Prof.  Edwards  says,  in  speaking  of  the 
specimens  he  examined  :  "  I  consider  the  turba  a  sand  impregnated  with  bitu 
men,  but  it  has  evidently  not  been  deposited  under  water,  because  it  contains 
no  diatoms,  and  the  vegetable  remains  in  it  are  wood,  a  few  leaves,  and  fibres 
like  fine  roots."  An  English  company  has  recently  been  formed  to  work  this 
deposit  for  the  above-mentioned  purposes. 


264  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

"  The  Camarnu  series  does  not  appear  in  any  way  connected 
with  that  of  Bahia  or  with  those  of  the  South,  unless,  as  has  been 
reported,  turba  is  found  on  the  Rio  de  Contas. 

"  This  series  may  be  designated  as  follows  :  — 

"  In  a  basin  of  gneissose  rocks  are  bituminous  schists,  sands,  and 
marls  containing  fossils,  (fresh  water  1)  and  it  is  presumable  above 
that  the  turba. 

"  There  are  also  sandstones,  — principally  red  concretions,  — not 
apparently  connected  with  the  bituminous  strata,  but  lying  nearer 
the  sea,  and  possibly  outliers  of  the  Bahia  series. 

"  The  following  section  is  from  the  pit  sunk  by  Sr.  Joao  da 
Costa,  filho  :  — 

"  20  feet  0  in.  Argillaceous  and  arenaceous  schists. 

3  "    0   "  Bituminous  clay. 

4  "    0   "  Ferruginous  and  arenaceous  sandstone. 
0    "    9   "  Schist  with  lignite. 

0  "     9    "    Bituminous  stratum. 

1  "    6   "   Micaceous  schists. 

1  "     6    "    Schist  with  lignite  and  bitumen  below. 

2  "    6   "    Schistose  strata. 

2  "  0  "  Bituminous  strata,  some  quite  pure. 

12  "  0  "  Schistose  rocks. 

15  "  0  "  Bituminous  strata. 

45  "  0  "  Gneissose  rocks. 


108  feet." 

Mr.  Nicolay  states  that  the  bituminous  strata  vary  much, 
from  pure  bitumen  to  an  arenaceous  kind  interstratified 
with  bituminous  shales  ;  "  but  it  is  to  be  observed  that,  at  the 
depth  of  eighteen  feet,  two  veins  of  pedra  molle,  an  imper 
fect  turba  occur.  These  are  in  many  cases  present  on  the 
surface,  and  the  connection  should  be  ascertained,  but  ex 
cept  in  this  instance  pedra  molle  and  turba  only  appear  above 


PROVINCE   OF   BAHIA.  265 

the  limestone,  i.  e.  so  far  as  is  known,  which  forms  the 
bottom  of  the  estuaries  which  unite  to  form  the  Camamu 
Bay." 

The  town  of  Camamu  is  only  a  small  one,  but  is  of  some 
little  importance,  exporting  to  Bahia  coffee,  farinha,  rum, 
rice,  cacao,  and  woods  for  building  purposes.  Spix  and 
Martius  speak  of  the  occurrence  of  coral  banks  in  the  Bay  of 
Camamu,  and  they  refer  some  of  the  corals  to  the  old  La- 
marckian  species,  Madr.  Uva,  M.  Astroides,  and  M.  Acropora. 
The  Ilha  de  Quieppe  lies  just  off  the  mouth  of  the  bay, 
and  is  surrounded  by  coral  reefs.  The  dangerous  reef  of 
Sorocosti  (Sororocossu  ?)  lies  a  short  distance  to  the  north 
west.  About  ten  miles  north  of  the  mouth  of  the  Bay  of 
Camamu  lies  the  large  island  called  Boyapeba.  Mouchez, 
in  a  note  to  his  chart  says  that  the  pilots  represent  the 
gulf  lying  between  this  island  and  the  Bay  of  Camamu  as 
being  full  of  corals,  probably  chapeiroes.  The  island  of 
Boyapeba  is  about  five  miles  in  diameter,  moderately  high, 
with  a  few  prominent  hills,  and  separated  from  the  main 
land  by  a  narrow  channel.  On  the  southeastern  side  of 
this  island  is  the  dangerous  point  Castelhanos,  on  which 
the  French  ship  Beam  was  wrecked  a  few  years  ago.  The 
village  of  Boyapeba,  near  the  northern  extremity  of  the 
island,  is  noted  for  its  little  commerce  with  Bahia  in  pias- 
saba,  rice,  and  mangrove  bark  for  tanning. 

Separated  from  this  island  on  the  south  by  narrow  chan 
nels,  and  from  the  mainland  by  a  channel  which  unites 
them  with  the  Barra  do  Rio  Una,  is  a  much  larger  island, 
called  Tinhare',  some  ten  or  fifteen  miles  long  and  five  or 
six  wide.  Wedged  in  between  these  two  islands  and  the 
mainland  is  the  little  island  Tupiassu.  The  northern  portion 
of  the  island  of  Tinhard  appears  to  be  high ;  while  the  rest, 

VOL.    I.  12 


266  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL  GEOGRAPHY. 

together  with  the  island  of  Tupiassu  and  the  mainland  oppo 
site,  is  low  and  in  great  part  swampy.  Mouchez  represents 
doubtfully  the  island  of  Tinhare'  as  crossed  by  two  or  three 
channels.  The  channel  west  of  this  island  is  very  narrow 
but  deep.  Into  it  flows  from  the  west  the  Rio  Jequie',  a 
small  stream  of  little  importance.  The  northeastern  ex 
tremity  of  the  island  of  Tinhare  is  prolonged  northward 
into  a  sharp  promontory  called  the  Morro  de  Sao  Paulo, 
which,  according  to  Dr.  Anto.  de  Lacerda,  is  composed  of 
gneiss.*  West  of  this  is  a  deep  bay  some  two  miles  wide, 
and  four  or  five  deep,  into  which  the  Rio  Tinhar£  empties 
from  the  south,  and  the  Rio  Una  from  the  west.  This  bay  is 
remarkable  for  a  long  sharp  sand-spit,  the  continuation  of  a 
sand-beach,  which  projects  southeastward  into  the  deep 
curve  west  of  the  Morro  de  Sao  Paulo.  In  this  bay  are 
several  small  islands.  Mouchez's  chart  appears  to  be  very 
inaccurate.  Prince  Neu-Wied,  after  leaving  Ignez,  reached 
a  river,  which  he  calls  the  Jequeri^a,  which  he  descended 
for  some  distance,  when  he  was  arrested  and  carried  across 
the  country  to  Aldea,  a  little  place  near  Nazareth.  In  his 
edition  of  Arrowsmith's  map  he  has  laid  down  his  route, 
which  he  represents  as  following  the  Una  instead  of  the 
Jequiriga,  which  flows  into  the  sea  some  ten  miles  north 
of  the  Una.  One  cannot  doubt  from  his  description  that  it 
was  the  Jequiricd  which  he  descended,  and  that,  owing  to 
that  river  having  been  represented  as  emptying  into  the 
bay  of  the  Una,  he  laid  down  his  itinerary  incorrectly.  The 
town  of  Valenga  is  situated  at  the  mouth  of  the  Una,  and 
is  noted  for  its  large  cotton-factory,  and  its  commerce  in 
woods  and  coffee.  From  the  Una  to  the  Jequiri^d  runs  a 

*  Pissis  also  says  that  it  is  gneiss.     Me'm.  de  I'Institut  de  France,  Tome  X. 
p.  357. 


TODOS  OS  SANTOS, 


PROVINCE   OF   BAHIA.  267 

long  sand-beach,  behind  which  the  lands  are  at  no  great 
distance  moderately  high  and  hilly.  North  of  the  Jequiric,d 
the  beach  is  interrupted  by  a  few  rocky  points. 

The  Bahia  de  Todos  os  Santos,  leaving  out  the  islands,  is 
a  quadrilateral  figure,  with  unequal  sides,  as  follows :  *  A  line 
from  the  Ponta  de  Sant.  Antonio  to  the  Ponta  Garcia  runs 
approximately  southwest,  and  measures  a  trifle  over  eighteen 
marine  miles  ;  a  line  running  along  the  western  side  of  the 
bay  would  run  nearly  north-northeast,  and  measure  thirty- 
three  miles  ;  the  northeastern  side  of  the  figure  representing 
the  width  of  the  bay,  which  is  remarkably  uniform  through 
out,  would  run  about  southeast,  length  fifteen  miles  ;  while 
the  other  side  of  the  figure,  bringing  us  back  to  the  point  of 
departure,  would  be  approximately,  south-southwest,  sixteen 
miles.  A  large  island,  of  a  sigmoid  shape,  called  Itaparica, 
and  about  four  or  five  miles  wide  in  the  widest  part,  lies  in 
the  bay  with  a  general  northeast  trend,  its  axis  lying  several 
miles  to  the  west  of  that  of  the  bay,  and  its  southern  end  dis 
tant  about  two  miles  northeast  of  the  Ponta  Garcia.  About 
three  miles  northeast  of  the  Ilha  Itaparica  is  a  considerable 
island  called  the  Ilha  dos  Frades,  which  lies  just  off  a  point 
projecting  southward  from  the  head  of  the  bay.  This  point  is 
deeply  indented  by  numerous  little  estuaries,  and  several 
large  islands  lie  off  its  west  side.  The  Ilha  Itaparica  and 
the  Ilha  dos  Frades  divide  the  bay  into  two  strips,  a  long 
and  narrow  one  to  the  west,  a  shorter  and  wider  one  to  the 
east.  "With  this  general  description  of  the  bay,  let  me  now 
enter  into  a  little  more  detail.  Between  Ponta  Garcia  and 
the  Ponta  da  Caixa  de  Pregos  of  the  Ilha  Itaparica,  the  river 
Jaguaripe  finds  an  outlet  to  the  sea,  although  its  waters  are 
free  to  enter  the  channel  west  of  Itaparica. 

*  These  measurements  I  take  from  the  best  maps  and  charts  in  my  posses 
sion. 


268  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

This  so-called  river  is  an  estuary,  which  at  the  mouth  is 
some  two  miles  wide,  but  narrows  rapidly  down,  being  at 
Nazareth,  a  town  some  ten  to  fifteen  miles  up  the  river,  only 
a  few  hundred  feet  in  width.  Steamers  ascend  to  Nazareth, 
but  navigation  ends  a  few  miles  above  that  town.  The  river 
rises  about  fifty  miles  west  of  Cachoeira,  and  has  a  south 
eastern  course.  All  its  branches  below  Nazareth  appear  to 
have  the  estuary  character,  opening  broadly  into  the  river.  I 
have  never  ascended  the  river,  and  can  therefore  give  no  defi 
nite  information  with  respect  to  the  geological  character  and 
agricultural  capabilities  of  the  country  bordering  it.  Naza 
reth  and  Jaguaripe,  a  town  about  a  league  above  the  mouth, 
are  noted  for  their  extensive  manufactories  of  tiles  and 
earthenware,  which  are  sent  to  Bahia.  Opposite  this  last 
town  a  canal  runs  northeastward,  joining  the  Jaguaripe  with 
the  estuary  of  the  Jacoruna,  separating  a  large  tract  from 
the  mainland  called  the  Ilha  de  Santa  Anna. 

If  the  coast  should  rise  fifteen  or  twenty  feet,  the  island 
of  Itaparica  would  be  joined  to  the  mainland  at  its  southern 
extremity  ;  for  at  low  tide  the  channel  now  separating  it 
from  the  mainland  at  the  junction  of  the  canal  with  the 
estuary  of  the  Jaguaripe  is  only  some  six  feet  deep  at  low 
water,  but  it  deepens  gradually  on  going  northward.  The 
west  side  of  the  channel  is  bordered  by  a  line  of  islands  called 
the  Ilhas  de  Parajuhia,  which  extend  almost  to  the  mouth  of 
the  Paraguassu.  It  is  interesting  to  compare  the  eastern 
exposed  side  of  Itaparica  with  its  long  stretches  of  sea-beaches 
uniting  rocky  points  with  the  sheltered  western  side,  which 
is  exceedingly  irregular,  and  cut  up  by  bays  and  estuaries. 
Of  the  geology  of  Itaparica  I  know  nothing,  except  that  I 
am  informed  by  Dr.  de  Lacerda  and  Mr.  Nicolay  that  the 
high  hills  are  gneiss.  In  Dr.  de  Lacerda's  cabinet  at 


PROVINCE   OF   BAHIA.  269 

Bahia  is  a  pebble  from  Itaparica  full  of  what  appear 
to  be  tertiary  shells ;  but  it  bears  so  strongly  the  appear 
ance  of  a  European  formation,  that  I  more  than  sus 
pect  that  it  has  found  its  way  across  the  Atlantic  in 
ballast.*  Darwin  speaks  of  deposits  of  tertiary  shells,  and 
Elie  de  Beaumont  says  that  M.  Pissis  found  tertiary  de 
posits  resembling  the  European  mollasse  in  the  bay  of 
Bahia.  I  have  seen  none,  and  it  is  singular  that,  if  they 
exist,  Mr.  Nicolay,  who  has  explored  the  bay  most  indus 
triously,  should  not  have  found  them.  In  all  probability 
both  Darwin  and  Pissis  mistook  (most  pardonably)  the 
recent  consolidated  beaches  for  tertiary. f  Coral  banks  exist 
along  the  shores  of  the  island,  and  the  corals  are  collected 
and  burned  for  lime.  The  species  are  the  common  ones 
of  the  Abrolhos  region,  though  Heliastra3a  appears  to  be 
more  abundant  than  at  Bahia. 

The  Rio  Paraguassu  is  the  largest  and  most  important 
stream  that  waters  the  province  of  Bahia.  It  rises  in  the 
Serra  da  Chapada,  in  the  diamond  district  west  of  the  Bahia 
de  Todos  os  Santos,  and,  obstructed  by  many  falls,  readies 
at  last,  a  few  miles  below  the  city  of  Cachoeira,  the  head  of  an 
estuary  which  empties  into  the  Bahia  de  Todos  os  Santos  on 
the  western  side  and  to  the  northwest  of  the  northern  extrem 
ity  of  the  Ilha  de  Itaparica.  Through  the  kindness  of  my 
friends  Dr.  Antonio  de  Lacerda  and  Mr.  Hugh  Wilson,  I  was 

*  One  must  be  on  his  guard  on  the  coast  of  Brazil  against  collecting  speci 
mens  from  rocks  brought  as  ballast  not  only  from  other  parts  of  the  Brazilian 
coast,  but  also  from  other  countries.  At  Maceio  I  saw  palaeozoic  rocks  which  I 
was  told  came  from  North  America.  So  the  Irish  carboniferous  limestone 
brought  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  finds  its  way  all  along  the  coast  of  that 
province. 

t  I  think  it  is  Darwin  who  speaks  of  tertiary  fossils  as  occurring  at  the  head 
of  the  bay.  I  know  of  no  reason  why  fossils  should  not  exist  as  the  tertiary 
rock  of  that  locality. 


270  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL    GEOGRAPHY. 

enabled  to  ascend  the  river,  or  rather  estuary,  as  far  as  the 
city  of  Cachoeira,  on  the  occasion  of  the  fete  of  the  open 
ing  of  the  new  steam  tramroad  just  commenced  by  an  Eng 
lish  company,  and  intended  to  unite  the  city  of  Cachoeira 
with  the  Villa  do  Urubu  on  the  Sao  Francisco,  and  the  fol 
lowing  observations  were  made  at  that  time.  The  entrance 
of  the  Paraguassu  is  quite  narrow,  and  bordered  by  high 
lands.  The  water  is  deep.  Some  of  the  hills  at  the  entrance 
may  be  five  hundred  feet  high.  Bluffs  on  the  southern  side 
showed  that  they  were  composed  of  horizontal  beds  of  a 
soft,  light  yellowish  brown  sandstone.  I  believe  this  to  be 
an  extension  of  the  tertiary  formation  of  the  coast. 

On  entering  the  narrow  mouth  the  river  immediately 
widens  into  a  lake-like  expansion,  in  which  is  a  long,  narrow 
island.  High  bluffs  on  the  shore  of  the  island  and  on  the 
left  bank  of  the  river  opposite  show  red  sandstone  with 
white  streaks,  and  a  beautiful  oblique  lamination.  About  a 
league  from  the  mouth,  just  above  the  Barra  do  Rio  Camu- 
rugipe,  the  river  narrows  abruptly,  and  is  here  more  than  one 
hundred  feet  deep.  The  land  on  each  side  of  the  river  is 
three  to  four  hundred  feet  high,  flat-topped,  with  steep 
slopes  toward  the  river,  and  occasional  bluffs  which  show 
red  sandstone  in  horizontal  strata,  as  below.  The  soil  is 
red,  but  thin,  and  the  vegetation  is  very  scanty,  consisting 
of  piassabas  and  low  bushes,  with  a  few  cocoa-palms  (  Cocos 
nucifera)  and  Dendes*  (El<zis  Guineensis  L.).  At  one 
place  near  the  battery, -called  the  Fortinho,  the  sandstone 
beds  appeared  to  have  a  slight  dip  northward,  but  this  is 
evidently  local,  as  the  whole  formation  is  quite  undisturbed 
and  horizontal. 

*  This  palm,  an  African  species,  goes  by  the  name  of  Caiauhe  on  the  Ama- 
zonas.  The  fruit  gives  an  orange-colored  oil,  much  used  in  Brazil  for  culinary 
purposes.  It  is  also  employed  in  the  manufacture  of  fine  soaps. 


PROVINCE   OF   BAHIA.  271 

Above  the  fort  the  river  opens  out  into  another  broad  ex 
panse,  and  a  beautiful  view  is  presented.  The  whole  country 
is  an  elevated  plain,  with  steep  slopes  to  the  estuary  and  its 
branches.  These  slopes  have  the  same  character  as  below, 
and  are  covered  largely  by  piassaba-palms.  An  occasional 
sugar-factory  may  be  seen  on  the  river.  From  this  lake-like 
expansion  of  the  river  a  broad  arm  extends  off  to  the 
southwestward  for  some  six  miles  in  a  broad  valley,  into 
the  head  of  which  empties  the  Rio  Capanema,  and  on  which 
is  situated  the  village  of  the  same  name.  This  arm  is  called 
the  Rio  de  Capanema,  and  it  is  said  to  receive  the  waters 
of  a  lake.  Maragogipe  is  a  prettily  situated  and  flourish 
ing  village,  built  at  the  base  of  the  chapada,  at  the  junction 
of  the  Capanema  with  the  Paraguassu.*  The  slopes  of  the 
chapadas  are  here  more  or  less  cultivated  with  corn,  <fec., 
and  there  are  large  groves  of  cocoa-palms  on  the  island  in 
front  of  the  town. 

From  the  northern  part  of  the  expanse  of  the  Paraguassu 
extends  northwards  another  arm  called  the  Iguape,f  into 
which  a  little  river  empties.  The  valley  of  the  Iguape  is 
broad  and  exceedingly  fertile,  and  there  are  very  many  ex 
tensive  sugar-plantations  situated  in  it.J  The  tertiary  cha 
padas  grow  higher  as  we  ascend,  and  on  the  Iguape  they 
must  be  at  least  seven  hundred  feet  in  elevation.  Passing  the 
Iguape  the  river  narrows  very  suddenly,  and  thence  to  the 
city  of  Cachoeira  it  is  only  a  few  hundred  feet  wide.  More 

*  Cazal,  Coroyrajia,  Tom.  II.  p.  125,  says  that  in  the  vicinity  is  found 
antimonio  and  bolo-armenlo. 

•f  This  name  is  rather  uncommon,  being  found  only  a  few  times  on  the  Brazil 
ian  coast.  It  appears  to  be  another  form  of  Yijarnpe,  canoe-path  or  channel,  a 
name  applied  to  the  side  channels  of  the  Amazonas.  (See  Index.) 

\  Cazal  says  that  the  soils  of  the  valley  of  Iguape  are  the  best  known  for  the 
culture  of  cane,  bein<r  of  black  massap^ and  strong.  Cor.  Draz.,  Tom.  II.  p.  125. 


272  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

properly  speaking,  the  mouth  of  the  Paraguassu  is  here,  and 
the  irregular  sheet  of  water  below,  to  the  bay,  is  a  tidal 
estuary.  At  the  point  where  the  river  flows  into  the  estuary, 
rock  shows  itself  in  the  river-banks,  and,  according  to  Senhor 
Przewodowski,  who  accompanied  me  on  the  voyage,  is  the 
corafdo  de  negro  rock,  like  that  of  Bahia.  The  strike  is 
N.  40°  E.  Dip  vertical.  The  country  bordering  the  river 
consists  of  rounded  hills,  back  of  which  are  the  elevated 
chapadas.  Bricks,  tiles,  and  pottery  are  largely  manufac 
tured  on  the  river,  from  the  clays  of  the  alluvial  river-banks. 
The  water  of  the  river  is  very  turbid  and  brownish. 

The  stream  narrows  as  we  ascend,  and  is  so  shallow  that 
two  of  the  little  steamers  with  a  part  of  the  excursionists 
from  Bahia  got  aground.  There  are  a  few  sugar  fazendas 
on  the  river  below  Cachoeira.  Above  Cachoeira  the  river 
is  obstructed  by  falls  and  rocks.  The  town  of  Cachoeira, 
a  respectably  sized  village,  is  noted  more  particularly  for  its 
export  of  sugar  and  cigars. 

The  country  bordering  the  Bahia  de  Todos  os  Santos  is 
in  general  terms  very  productive,  and  it  has  long  borne  the 
name  of  the  "  Reconcavo"  Sugar  is  the  principal  product, 
though  mandioca,  &c.,  are  cultivated.  The  tertiary  de 
posits  extend  across  from  the  Paraguassu  to  Sant.  Amaro,  a 
flourishing  city  on  the  river  Serigi,  some  three  leagues  above 
the  mouth,  according  to  my  friend  Dr.  Brunet,  the  Director 
of  the  Agricultural  Institute  of  Bahia.  Dr.  Brunet  informs 
me  that  the  lands  of  the  vicinity  of  Sant.  Amaro  are  very 
fertile.  Sugar  and  farinha  are  the  principal  products.  Here 
is  situated  the  Agricultural  Institute  above  spoken  of.  East 
ward  the  tertiary  beds  extend  to  the  Bahia  and  Sao  Fran 
cisco  Railroad. 

It  is  interesting  to  compare  the  Bahia  de  Todos  os  Santos 


PROVINCE   OF   BAHIA.  273 

with  the  Bahia  do  Rio  de  Janeiro.  The  latter  is  also  divided 
almost  into  two  parts  by  the  Ilha  do  Governador  and  the 
islands  to  the  northeast ;  but  the  most  interesting  point  is 
to  observe  the  difference  in  the  character  of  the  rivers  emp 
tying  into  the  two  bays.  Those  of  Rio  are  all  small,  and  at 
their  mouths  they  are  bordered  by  flat  grounds  and  mangrove 
swamps,  owing  to  the  rapid  building  out  of  the  land ;  for 
the  lands  about  the  bay  are  mountainous,  and  the  streams, 
swollen  by  heavy  rains,  bring  down  an  immense  quantity  of 
sediment  into  the  bay.  The  lands  bordering  the  Bahia  de 
Todos  os  Santos  are  high,  and  stretches  of  sands  and  man 
grove  swamps  are  rare  ;  while  the  rivers,  bringing  down  less 
sediment,  are  not  so  contracted  at  their  mouths,  but  open 
out  broadly  into  the  bay. 


12* 


274  GEOLOGY   AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 


CHAPTER    VI. 

THE   SAO   FRANCISCO   BASIN. 

The  Explorations  of  Halfeld,  Liais,  St.  John,  Allen,  Ward,  Burton,  &c.  —  Gen 
eral  Shape  of  the  Basin.  —  Its  uniform  Width.  —  The  Sao  Francisco  Valley 
hollowed  out  of  a  Series  of  horizontal  Beds  of  Limestone  and  Sandstone.  — 
The  Chapadas.  —  The  so-called  "  Serra"  separating  the  Sao  Francisco  from 
the  Tocantins  Basin  an  irregular  Strip  or  Table-land  of  Sandstone.  —  The 
Serras  of  Araripe  and  Dous  Irmaos.  —  Table-topped  Hills  in  the  Valley  of 
the  Sao  Francisco ;  Outliers  of  the  Chapadas.  —  Doubts  about  the  Age  of  the 
Sandstones  and  Limestones.  — Limestones  of  the  Rio  das  Velhas.  — Remains 
of  Extinct  Quadrupeds  in  Brazil,  spoken  of  by  Cazal,  Spix  and  Martius,  &c. 
—  Claussen's  Discoveries  in  the  Caves  at  Curvelo.  —  Dr.  Lund's  exhaustive 
Researches  at  Lag6a  Santa.  —  Caves  described ;  their  Number,  Extent,  Sta 
lactites  and  Deposits  of  Bones  in  Saltpetre  Earth.  —  Immense  Quantities  of 
small  Bones  brought  in  by  Owls,  &c.  —  Large  Number  of  Fossil  Animals  dis 
covered  by  Lund.  —  Former  Existence  of  Megatheria,  Mylodons,  Mastodons, 
immense  Armadillos  and  Cats,  Horses,  &c.,  in  Brazil.  —  Remains  of  a  Race 
of  Man  of  high  Antiquity.  —  Rcinhardt's  Generalizations.  —  The  Rio  de  Sao 
Francisco  of  the  Sixteenth  Class  among  the  Rivers  of  the  World,  but  third 
in  Rank  in  Brazil.  —  General  Description  of  the  Stream.  —  Its  Affluents, 
the  Rios  Para,  Paraopeba,  and  Das  Velhas.  —  The  Rio  das  Velhas  alone 
capable  of  being  made  navigable  for  Steamers.  —  The  Sao  Francisco  naviga 
ble  with  but  few  Interruptions  for  two  hundred  and  sixty-four  Leagues  below 
the  Rio  das  Velhas.  —  Cost  of  removing  Obstructions.  — Proposed  Railway 
from  Joazeiro  to  Piranhas.  —  Fertility  of  Low  Lands  of  Sao  Francisco  Val 
ley. —  Liais's  Picture  of  the  Campos. 

BEFORE  we  take  up  the  geology  of  the  interior  and  western 
portion  of  the  province  of  Bahia,  which  latter  embraces  a 
considerable  part  of  the  basin  of  the  Sao  Francisco,  I 
propose  to  give,  in  a  few  words,  a  sketch  of  the  geology 
and  hydrography  of  the  whole  basin  ;  and  this  is  the  more 


SAO   FRANCISCO   BASIN.  275 

needed,  since  further  on  we  shall  have  to  visit  the  lower 
part  of  the  great  river,  and  it  will  be  necessary  to  consider 
some  questions  bearing  on  its  navigation,  &c. 

No  river  in  Brazil  has  been  so  carefully  studied  and 
mapped  as  the  Sao  Francisco  and  its  tributary  the  Rio  das 
Velhas.  Halfcld  explored  the  main  river  from  the  conflu 
ence  of  the  two  streams  to  the  sea,  and  published  a  few  years 
ago  a  magnificent  chart  of  the  river  in  atlas  form,  accom 
panied  by  a  detailed  description  of  every  league.  He  also 
made  an  estimate  of  the  cost  of  removing  the  obstacles  to 
navigation,  so  as  to  render  it  a  great  interior  water  high 
way.  But,  as  Burton  and  Liais  have  remarked,  the  chart 
of  the  river  is  rather  a  detailed  plan  than  a  scientifically 
accurate  map,  as  it  wants  the  meridians  and  parallels. 

M.  Emmanuel  Liais,  the  author  of  L' Espace  Celeste, 
made  a  most  elaborate  survey  of  the  Rio  das  Velhas  and 
Upper  Sao  Francisco.  In  his  report*  on  this  survey  the 
obstructions,  such  as  rocks,  rapids,  &c.,  are  shown  in  dia 
gram  and  described,  and  estimates  are  given  of  the  proba 
ble  expense  of  removing  them.  Almost  all  the  well-known 
explorers  of  Brazil  have  visited  some  part  of  the  Sao  Fran 
cisco  basin.  Among  the  later  are  Messrs.  St.  John  and 
Allen  of  the  Thayer  Expedition,  the  former  a  geologist,  the 
latter  an  ornithologist,  but  a  good  geological  observer. 
Mr.  St.  John  made  an  exceedingly  careful  examination  of 
the  valley  of  the  Rio  das  Velhas,  and  of  the  Sao  Francisco 
as  far  as  the  Barra  do  Rio  Grande,  whence  he  crossed  over 
into  the  basin  of  the  Parnahyba,  and  continued  his  explora- 

*  Ilydrographic  du  Haul  San-Francisco  et  du  Rio  das  Velhas,  ou  resultats 
au  point  de  vue  hydrographique  d'un  voyage  effectue  dans  la  province  de  Minas 
Geraes,  par  Emm.  Liais.  Ouvrage  public  par  ordre  du  gouvcrncmcnt  impe 
rial  du  Bresil,  et  accompagne  dc  cartes  levees  par  1'autcur  avec  la  collaboration 
de  MM.  Edw.  Jose  de  Moraes  ct  Ladislas  de  Souza  Mello  Netto.  1865. 


276  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

tions  across  the  provinces  of  Piauhy  and  Maranhao  to  the 
city  of  Sao  Luiz.  Mr.  St.  John  had  the  good  fortune  to  ex 
amine  the  geology  of  a  route  along  which  the  geological 
features  of  the  country,  though  somewhat  monotonous,  are 
more  exposed  to  view  than  along  almost  any  other  that 
could  have  been  assigned  him.  He  did  his  work  thorough 
ly,  and  his  report  will  be  of  great  interest  when  published, 
and  we  hope  that  it  will  not  be  long  delayed.  Mr.  Allen, 
suffering  from  ill  health,  parted  with  his  companion  and 
went  on  to  Chique-Chique,  where  he  took  mules  and 
crossed  the  province  of  Bahia  to  Cachoeira.  Mr.  Allen 
has  made  a  valuable  report  on  that  part  of  the  country 
which  he  visited  alone,  and  he  has  been  kind  enough  to 
give  me  some  notes  on  the  geology  and  physical  geography 
of  the  province  of  Bahia,  which  I  shall  insert  in  a  subse 
quent  chapter. 

Finally  we  have  Burton,  who  in  1867  explored  the  Rio  das 
Velhas  and  Sao  Francisco  to  the  sea,  and  he  has  given  us 
an  account  of  his  journey  in  the  second  volume  of  his 
"  Highlands  of  Brazil."  This  book  is  like  a  series  of  sharply 
drawn  photographs  of  nature  and  life  along  his  route.  It 
is  exceedingly  full  of  facts  of  every  kind ;  but  his  peculiar 
style,  and  wholly  unique  geological  language,  render  his 
geological  observations  in  many  cases  quite  valueless. 

The  basin  of  the  Sao  Francisco  is  a  peculiar  one.  It  is 
long,  of  very  equal  width,  the  lower  half  making  a  strong 
curve,  the  convexity  of  which  faces  the  northwest.* 

The  head  of  the  basin,  bounded  by  high  serras  of  eozoic 
and  older  Palaeozoic  metamorphic  rock,  narrows  rapidly  to- 

*  Liais  calls  attention  to  the  very  uniform  width  of  the  Sao  Francisco  val 
ley,  and  says  that  it  varies  from  fifty  to  eighty  leagues.  See  his  paper,  Le  Rio 
San-Francisco  au  Bre'ti/,  Bull,  de  la  Soc.  de  Geographic,  Fifth  Se'rie,  11.  p.  389. 


THE   SAO   FRANCISCO  BASIN.  277 

ward  the  south,  and  at  the  apex,  near  Ouro  Preto,  are  some 
of  the  highest  elevations  in  Brazil.  It  is  separated  from  the 
coast  river  basins  by  the  ridges  of  the  great  metamorphic 
coast  belt  and  the  line  of  chapadas  running  along  a  part 
of  its  summit,  the  whole  collectively  called  the  Serra  do 
Espinhac,o  by  Baron  von  Eschwege.  This  metamorphic  belt 
flattens  down  between  the  two  provinces  of  Bahia  and  Per 
il  ambuco,  and  the  basin  bends  round  to  the  east  and  crosses 
it,  opening  out  to  the  sea. 

The  whole  length  of  the  basin  is  not  far  from  twelve  hun 
dred  miles,  and  its  greatest  width  not  more  than  two  hun 
dred  and  forty.  It  is  separated  from  the  Parana  basin  by 
metamorphic  serras,  which  become  lower  as  one  goes  north 
ward,  finally  dipping  under  a  sheet  of  sandstone  corre 
sponding  to  that  of  the  chapadas  along  the  Serra  do  Es- 
pinhacjo,  and  which  run  northward  to  the  province  of 
Piauhy,  forming  a  table-land,  flat  topped,  without  mountains, 
and  of  a  varying  width,  which  sends  out  broad  spurs  of 
chapadas  between  the  affluents  of  both  the  Sao  Francisco 
and  the  Tocantins  basins. 

Mr.  Ward  tells  me  that  the  valley  of  the  Sao  Francisco, 
along  the  western  flank  of  the  Grao  Mogor,  is  skirted  by 
high  chapadas  composed  of  sandstones  and  limestones,  hav 
ing  precisely  the  same  character  as  those  of  the  opposite 
side  of  the  valley ;  the  chapadas  sending  out  spurs  into 
the  valley.  These  chapadas  are,  when  dry,  covered  by 
the  ordinary  campos  vegetation,  but  magnificent  groves 
of  Buriti  palms  are  found  in  the  damp  shallow  valleys. 
Mr.  Ward  estimates  the  height  of  these  elevated  plains  at 
2,500-3,000  feet.  They  break  down  abruptly  on  reach 
ing  the  Sao  Francisco  valley.  Mr.  Ward  describes  the 
flat-topped  hills  of  the  valley  as  outliers  of  the  sandstones 


278        GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL  GEOGRAPHY. 

and  limestones,  and  he,  I  think,  rightly  ascribes  their  lower 
height  to  their  having  suffered  denudation. 

On  nearing  the  limits  of  Piauhy  the  basin  reaches  the 
metamorphic  belt,  and,  being  prevented  from  extending 
northward  by  the  sandstone-crowned  metamorphic  ridge  of 
the  Dous  Irmaos,  bends  round  as  above  described  and  flows 
to  the  east.  The  chapadas  I  have  mentioned  continue  on, 
with  more  or  less  breaks,  along  the  northern  side  of  the 
basin  forming  the  serra  of  Araripe.  The  upper  part  of  the 
basin  is  occupied  by  horizontal  limestone  deposits,  while 
farther  down  are  sandstones,  shales,  <fec.  The  lower  half 
of  the  valley,  almost  to  the  sea,  is  cut  down  to  the  bottom 
metamorphic  rocks.  The  basin  was  primarily  determined 
by  the  ancient  denudation  of  the  metamorphic  rocks  ;  but  as 
it  stands  to-day  it  is  worn  in  the  great  sandstone  sheet, 
which  I  shall  in  the  course  of  the  succeeding  chapters 
attempt  to  show  covered  the  whole  plateau  of  Brazil.  It 
is  the  fashion  among  map-drawers  to  throw  in  a  range  of 
mountains  separating  two  great  river  basins,  especially  if 
there  is  known  to  be  any  high  ground  between  them,  and 
this  mountain  range  is  carefully  drawn  along  the  sum 
mit  line  of  the  water-shed.  Brazil  is  usually  represented 
as  traversed  in  all  directions  by  mountain  chains,  drawn 
as  if  they  were  all  alike  narrow  ridges.  But  rivers  may 
take  their  rise  on  elevated  plains,  and  the  water-shed  may 
be  only  an  insignificant  bulging.  It  is  so  with  the  great 
divide  between  the  La  Plata  and  Amazonian  systems.  In 
the  case  of  the  Tocantins  and  Sao  Francisco  the  streams 
traverse  an  elevated  plateau  of  sandstone,  which  forms  on 
top  a  plain.  The  branches  taking  their  rise  on  the  divide, 
and  flowing  in  opposite  directions,  have  cut  for  themselves 
valleys  that  widen  out  towards  their  respective  main  rivers, 


THE    SAO   FRANCISCO   BASIN.  279 

so  that  the  high  lands  separating  the  two  basins,  instead  of 
being  a  narrow  mountain  chain,  consist  of  an  elevated  plain 
sending  out  jagged  spurs  between  the  valleys  of  the  tribu 
tary  streams.  Outliers  of  these  chapadas  form  isolated  table- 
topped  hills  and  ridges  bordering  the  main  stream  of  the 
Sao  Francisco  as  far  down  as  the  Great  Falls.*  These 
high  lands,  usually  drawn  on  maps  as  narrow  ridges,  appear 
like  ranges  of  upheaval,  and  the  maps  are  only  calculated 
to  mislead  the  geologist  and  physical  geographer. 

The  stratigraphical  relationship  of  the  limestones  has  yet 
to  be  worked  out,  but  they  appear  to  underlie  the  sandstone 
of  the  Tocantins-Sao  Francisco  divide,  for  both  Gardner 
and  Ward  speak  of  them  as  appearing  in  the  lower  part  of 
the  slopes  in  descending  from  the  chapadas  into  the  Sao 
Francisco  valley,  f  I  shall  leave  the  detailed  description 
of  these  deposits  to  Mr.  St.  John,  to  whose  report  it  prop 
erly  belongs,  and  confine  myself  only  to  a  few  points  well 
determined  by  other  geologists,  and  which  I  need  to  state 
here  in  order  to  complete  that  general  sketch  of  Brazilian 
geology  and  physical  geography  which  I  am  attempting  to 
give. 

According  to  Reinhardt,  the  limestone  of  the  Rio  das 
Yelhas  is  dark  gray  in  color,  fine-grained  and  crystalline. 
It  splits  into  thin  slabs,  and  is  so  sonorous  that  plates  of  it 
were  used  formerly  as  bells  to  the  churches.  Lund,  Bur- 
meistcr,  Reinhardt,  St.  John,  and  in  fact  all  the  geologists 
who  have  examined  the  limestone,  testify  that  it  is  with- 

*  I  think  that  I  may  safely  say  that  all  the  great  north-south  ranges  of  high 
land  in  Brazil,  north  of  the  latitude  of  Diamantina,  except  the  Grao  Mogor, 
usually  described  and  mapped  as  mountain  chains,  are  ranges  of  chapadas  or 
narrow  plateaus  resulting  from  denudation. 

t  Mr.  St.  John  tells  me  that  they  underlie  the  sandstones  of  the  Sao  Fran 
cisco  valley. 


280  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL    GEOGRAPHY. 

out  fossils,  and  it  has  been  supposed,  if  I  rightly  under 
stand  Lund,  to  be  very  old,  and  probably  Palaeozoic.  Rein- 
hardt  would  make  it  Devonian.  I  see  no  good  reason  for 
coming  to  such  a  conclusion.  The  want  of  fossils  is  no  cri 
terion  of  the  age  of  a  formation ;  it  is  no  proof  that  a  rock 
is  old  simply  because  it  contains  no  fossils ;  nor  would  the 
apparently  metamorphosed  and  somewhat  crystalline  con 
dition  of  the  rock  necessarily  show  that  it  was  very  ancient. 
The  metamorphism  of  rocks  is  largely  due  to  the  action 
of  water  ;  and  in  the  decomposition  of  the  rocks  of  Brazil 
we  see  what  a  powerful  agent  meteoric  water  is  in  working 
changes  in  the  rocks.  We  know  that  the  limestones  of  the 
Rio  das  Velhas  are  plentifully  soaked  with  water  by  the  heavy 
rains,  and  the  metamorphism  of  the  limestone  is  doubtless 
due  to  this  cause.  Compact  limestones  without  fossil  re 
mains  are  not  by  any  means  uncommon  all  over  the  globe, 
and  they  may  be  of  any  age.  These  limestones  were  depos 
ited  at  the  head  of  the  Sao  Francisco  basin,  in  a  bay  shel 
tered  on  the  east,  south,  and  west  by  high  lands. 

In  these  limestones  are  the  celebrated  bone  caverns,  of 
which  I  will  give  some  account  before  I  describe  the  great 
river  and  its  navigation. 

It  appears  to  have  been  Cazal  who,  in  1817,  first  called 
attention  to  the  existence  of  bones  and  skeletons  of  giant 
extinct  quadrupeds  in  Brazil ;  *  but  similar  remains  had 
been  found  even  as  far  back  as  1G02,  or  earlier,  by  the  first 
explorers  in  Bolivia  and  on  the  Pampas.  Spix  and  Mar- 
tius  have  described  many  localities  in  the  provinces  of 
Minas  Gcraes  and  Bahia  where  mammalian  remains  were 
found ;  and  Eschwegc,  St.  Hilaire,  and  other  travellers 
spoke  of  the  occurrence  of  those  remains,  not  only  in  the 

*  Sec  p.  261. 


THE   SAO   FRANCISCO   BASIN.  281 

deposits  in  shallow  hollows  in  the  rock,  but  also  in  the 
saltpetre  caverns  of  Minas  Geraes  ;  but  no  one  of  these 
travellers  made  a  systematic  examination  of  any  of  the 
localities,  and  we  are  indebted  almost  entirely  to  the  dis 
tinguished  Dane,  Dr.  P.  W.  Lund,  for  what  we  know  of 
the  fossil  fauna  of  the  bone  caverns  of  Brazil.  Lund 
had  been  travelling  many  years  in  Brazil  in  company 
with  Riedel,  the  botanist,  and  was  on  his  return  with  him 
to  Rio  when  he  accidentally  heard  of  Claussen,  another 
Dane,  who  was  residing  near  Curvelo,  in  the  valley  of  the 
Rio  das  Velhas.  Claussen  had  been  examining  the  salt 
petre  caves  of  the  vicinity,  and  collecting  bones  from  them, 
and  Dr.  Reinhardt*  tells  us  that  when  Lund  visited  him 
he  was  trying  to  study  them  out  with  the  aid  of  Buck- 
land's  Reliqufs  Diluviance.  This  was  in  1834.  Lund  saw 
that  here  was  an  immense  field  to  explore ;  and  as  soon 
as  he  could  honorably  withdraw  from  Riedel,  he  returned  to 
Cachoeira  do  Campo  to  examine  some  caverns  there  ;  but 
he  soon  rejoined  Claussen,  and  worked  with  him  for  some 
time.  The  two,  however,  seem  not  to  have  agreed  well  to 
gether,  and  in  1835  Lund  withdrew  to  Lagoa  Santa,  and  he 
has  remained  there  ever  since  devoting  his  time  to  an  ex 
haustive  examination  of  the  bone  caverns  of  the  vicinity, 
reaping,  as  we  shall  see,  a  rich  harvest  for  science.  Bur 
ton  tells  us  that  the  distinguished  geologist  is  confined 
to  Brazil  by  consumptive  tendencies,  and  is  bedridden  by 
rheumatism. 

The  region  in  which  Lagda  Santa  is  situated  is  composed 

*  For  most  of  the  farts  in  this  account  of  Lund's  researches  in  the  bone 
caves  of  Brazil  I  am  indebted  to  the  very  interesting  paper  of  Professor  J. 
Reinhardt,  in  Lutken's  popular  Tidsskrift,  entitled  De  Brasilianske  Knoglehuler 
og  de  i  dem  forekommende  Dyrelevninger. 


282 


GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 


of  beds  of  limestone  and  shales,  the  limestone  lying  be 
low  and  the  shales  above,  the  whole  being  covered  by  a 
bed  of  red  earth,  which  Reinhardt  describes  as  resulting 
simply  from  the  decomposition  of  the  shales,  but  which 
Lund,  if  I  rightly  understand  him,  believes  to  be  the 
same  red  clay  which  covers  the  whole  country,  and  which 
Professor  Agassiz  and  I  would  refer  to  the  drift.  These 
beds  are,  as  already  remarked,  horizontal,  and  are  traversed 
by  narrow,  often  ramifying  channels,  caused  by  the  widening 
of  the  joints  of  the  limestone  by  the  penetration  of  surface 
waters  which  sometimes  form  therein  subterranean  streams  ; 
for  in  the  limestone  region  the  streams  sometimes  disappear 
and  pursue  an  underground  course,  often  for  a  long  distance. 
Professor  Reinhardt  gives  a  ground-plan  of  the  principal 
ramifications  of  one  of  the  most  noted  caverns,  called  the 
Lapa  Vermelha,  situated  about  a  mile  from  LagOa  Santa, 
and  this  plan  I  have  reproduced  below.*  According  to 


GROUND   VIEW  OF   THE   LAPA   VKKMKLHA. 

*  It  was  drawn  by  Lund's  former  assistant,  the  late  Peter  Andreas  Brandt, 
and  gives  only  the  larger  galleries  of  the  cavern.  Besides  these,  there  are  in 
numerable  smaller  ones,  some  of  which  are  only  mere  cracks  where  the  joints 
have  been  widened  by  the  water. 


THE   SAO   FRANCISCO   BASIN.  283 

Reinhardt,  this  cavern  extends  over  two  thousand  feet  into 
the  rock,  growing  narrower  and  narrower,  until  it  becomes^ 
only  a  mere  canal.  The  floors  are  usually  horizontal.  Some 
times  the  caverns  are  only  narrow  cracks,  at  others  they  are 
wide  arched  galleries,  which  not  infrequently  open  into  large 
halls.  The  walls  and  roof  are  smooth  and  without  sharp 
corners.  Reinhardt  is  inclined  to  believe  that  the  excavation 
of  the  caverns  has  been  partially  due  to  the  surface  waters, 
which  have  in  soaking  through  the  rock  dissolved  away  the 
surface  of  the  walls.  That  this  has  been  the  case  to  a  con 
siderable  extent  is  proved,  as  Reinhardt  has  remarked,  by 
the  projection  from  the  smooth  limestone  wall  of  very  thin 
sheets  of  clay,  which  would  certainly  have  been  worn  away 
if  the  whole  hollowing  out  had  been  performed  by  running 
water.  One  thing  seems  quite  certain,  that  these  caverns 
were  excavated  before  the  valleys  of  the  region  in  which  they 
occur.  The  roof  and  sides  of  the  caves  are  often  covered 
by  very  large  and  beautiful  stalactites  of  a  great  variety 
of  forms.  A  stalagmitic  crust  sometimes  covers  the  earthen 
floor,  and  in  some  caves  there  are  large  pillars.  These 
stalactites,  formed  by  the  exceedingly  slow  deposition  of  cal 
careous  matter  by  the  water  trickling  through  the  rock, 
since  the  time  when  the  clay  of  the  floor  was  deposited, 
bear  some  testimony  as  to  the  great  age  of  the  bones  therein 
buried. 

The  earth  covering  the  floor  is  a  yellowish-red  clay, 
which  is,  according  to  Lund,  like  the  superficial  soil  of 
the  country.  All  authors  describe  it  in  very  much  the 
same  way.  It  is  however  very  clear,  from  its  mode  of 
occurrence,  that  it  is  not  drift,  and  that  it  is  a  deposit  in 
troduced  into  the  caves  by  the  action  of  the  surface  waters  ; 
but  precisely  how  may  be  a  question.  The  earth  often  con- 


284  GEOLOGY   AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

tains  fragments  of  quartz  and  other  rocks.  Reinhardt  is 
of  the  opinion  that  it  has  been  introduced  from  above  by 
the  water  flowing  into  the  caves  through  the  overlying  red 
earth  and  decomposed  shales.  It  appears,  in  some  cases, 
to  have  once  filled  the  caves  from  floor  to  roof,  and  to  have 
been  subsequently  more  or  less  completely  washed  Out. 
This  red  earth  is  strongly  impregnated  with  saltpetre,  and 
its  extraction  is  so  profitable,  that  the  Brazilians  have 
removed  it  entirely  from  many  of  the  caves.*  Reinhardt 
says  that  a  small  cartful  sometimes  produces  as  much  as 
two  stones,  or  an  arroba,  of  the  salt.  Bones  of  extinct  ani 
mals  occur  buried  in  this  clay  in  almost  all  the  caverns,  but 
in  such  small  quantities,  in  the  majority  of  them,  that  they 
do  not  reward  the  pains  of  the  collector.  Lund  told  Bur- 
meister  that  he  had  examined  at  least  one  thousand  caves ;  out 
of  these  only  sixty  contained  bones  in  any  quantity,  and  but 
half  that  number  really  paid  for  working.  The  number  of 
caves  is  astonishing,  and  Burmeister  tells  us  that  almost 
every  bank  has  its  cavern.  They  are  not  confined  to  the 
immediate  vicinity  of  Lagoa  Santa,  but  are  found  in  great 
numbers  throughout  the  limestone  region.  The  skeletons 
found  in  them  are  usually  disarticulated.  The  bones  are 
often  much  broken  and  almost  invariably  scattered  about, 
so  that  the  discovery  of  an  entire  skeleton  is  hardly  to  be 
thought  of.  Besides  this,  the  earth  in  which  the  bones 
occur  is  much  cemented  together,  and  has  to  be  broken  up 
to  allow  of  their  extraction.  The  bones  are  not  all  of  the 
same  age,  and  a  large  proportion  of  those  in  some  caves 
belong  to  now  existing  animals.  But  in  other  caverns 
there  are  found  remains  of  extinct  animals  of  high  an 
tiquity. 

*  See  note  on  saltpetre,  near  end  of  Chapter  VII. 


THE  SAO   FRANCISCO  BASIN.  285 

Some  of  the  caves  contain  immense  quantities  of  small 
bones  belonging  to  bats  and  small  animals  of  existing  spe 
cies.  Near  Caxoeira  do  Campo  is  a  cave  about  120  feet 
long,  30  to  40  feet  high,  and  6  to  9  feet  broad.  Over  a  part 
of  the  bottom  lay  quite  a  thick  bed  of  earth  filled  with  small 
bones.  Lund  carried  out  half  a  cubic  foot  of  this  earth, 
and  counted  all  the  half-underjaws  he  found  in  it.  Of  small 
opossums  (pungrotter)  there  were  400,  and  about  2,000  of 
different  kinds  of  mice,  besides  bats,  porcupines  (pigrotter') , 
and  small  birds.  Another  interesting  instance  is  related  by 
Reinhardt.  Lund  had  the  whole  of  the  clay  brought  from 
a  cave  at  the  fazenda  of  Escravania,  which  was  only  24  feet 
deep.  This  earth  filled  6,552  firkins.  Lund  determined 
the  number  of  half-underjaws  found  in  a  certain  measure, 
and  calculated  that  in  the  whole  mass  there  were  the 
remains  of  not  less  than  6,881,500  individuals  of  cavias, 
opossums,  porcupines,  and  mice  !  Beside  these  there  were 
immense  quantities  of  bones  of  small  birds,  lizards,  frogs, 
&c.  And  all  these  bones  had  been  brought  into  the  cave 
by  owls  !  Now  owls  are  unsocial  birds,  and  we  cannot 
resist  the  conclusion  of  Reinhardt,  that  the  deposit  must 
have  been  gathering  for  many  thousands  of  years.  While 
these  bones  belong  to  the  present  geological  epoch,  those 
buried  in  the  red  clay  below  the  stalactite  accumulations 
belong  to  a  more  ancient  time,  and  are  for  the  greater  part 
of  extinct  forms ;  and  it  is  from  this  source  that  the  bones 
of  the  Megatherium  and  other  giant  animals  are  derived. 

Of  these  animals  there  have  been  discovered  by  Messrs. 
Lund  and  Claussen  115  species  of  mammals,  belonging  to 
58  different  genera,  distributed  as  follows :  —  * 

*  See  U'Archiac,  Geologic  et  Pal^ontologle,  p.  722,  from  which  the  table  on 
the  next  page  is  taken. 


286  GEOLOGY   AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 


Genera 

Species. 

Quadrumana         .        . 

4 

6 

Cheiroptera      .... 

.       3 

7 

9 

18 

Rodentia          .... 

.     15 

32 

Edentata      .... 

13 

28 

Pachydermata  .... 

.       9 

10 

Ruminantia  .... 

4 

7 

Marsupialia      .... 

.       1 

7 

58  115 

With  bones  of  extinct  animals  occur  those  of  now  living 
species,  as,  for  instance,  Cervus  rufus,  Cervus  simplicicor- 
m's,  Sciurus  (estuans,  Echimys  Cayennensis,  Myrmecophaga 
tetradactyla,  Lepus  Brasiliensis,  Fells  concolor,  and  Felis 
mitis.*  Among  the  extinct  quadrupeds  may  be  mentioned 
the  Mastodon,  whose  remains  have  been  only  rarely  found 
in  caverns,  but  more  often  in  pits  and  holes.  There  were 
bones  of  species  of  Macrauchenia,  Toxodon,  Chlamydothe- 
rium,  and  of  the  gigantic  Glyptodon  (Hoplophorus),  Mylo- 
don,  and  Megatherium.  Among  the  carnivora  were  wildcats 
and  jaguars,  and  a  species  of  Smilodon  ($.  neog-ceus'),  — 
an  immense  cat-like  animal  with  enormous  knife-like  canine 
teeth  in  the  upper  jaw,  allied  to  the  fossil  European  species. 
Of  monkeys  Lund  found  but  few,  and  they  belonged  to  the 
genera  Callithrix,  Hapale,  Ateles,  and  Protopithecus,  the 
latter  being  an  extinct  genus.  In  six  or  seven  of  the  holes 
Lund  found  stone  implements  and  remains  of  man  so  buried 
with  the  remains  of  the  extinct  fauna,  as  to  leave  no  doubt 
that  man  was  contemporaneous  with  it  in  Brazil  as  in  Eu 
rope.  In  the  Sumidouro  cavern  they  were  found  mingled 

*  Reinhardt,  op.  cit.,  p.  315. 


THE   SAO   FRANCISCO   BASIN.  287 

with  bones  of  the  extinct  cavern  jaguar  (Felis  protopanther) 
an  immense  Capibara  (Hydroch&rus  sulcidens),  together 
with  remains  of  llamas  and  horses,  which  last  certainly 
existed  in  Brazil,  as  in  North  America,  long  before  the 
conquest.  According  to  Reinhardt,  the  race  of  men  whose 
remains  Lund  has  found  appear  to  have  been  well  built,  but 
slender.  The  same  writer  states  that  a  skull  he  examined 
was  dolichocephalic  and  somewhat  prognathous.  It  was  of 
medium  size  and  ridged  with  a  very  prominent  cheekbone, 
a  small  forehead,  and  eyes  wide  apart.  The  walls  of  the 
skull  were  extraordinarily  thick. 

Reinhardt*  has  come  to  some  interesting  conclusions  with 
reference  to  the  history  of  the  cave  fauna,  and  I  translate 
them  in  full.  They  are  :  — 

"  1.  That  Brazil,  in  the  post-pliocene  time,  was  inhabited 
by  a  very  rich  mammalian  fauna,  of  which  the  present  may 
be  said  to  be  a  fraction  or  stunted  remainder,  since  many 
genera,  nay,  even  large  systematic  groups,  such  as  families 
and  suborders,  have  disappeared,  and  only  very  few  have 
come  down  to  our  day. 

"  2.  That  the  Brazilian  mammalian  fauna,  in  the  whole 
post-pliocene  time,  had  the  same  peculiar  stamp  which  in 
the  present  distinguishes  the  South  American  fauna  in 
comparison  with  that  of  the  Old  World,  while  the  extinct 
genera  belong  to  families  and  groups  which  still  to-day  par 
ticularly  characterize  South  America.  Only  two  of  these 
genera,  one  extinct,  the  Mastodon,  the  other  still  existing, 
the  horse,  belong  to  families  which  are  entirely  confined  to 
the  Eastern  hemisphere,  and  form  exceptions  to  the  rule. 

"  3.  That  the  mammalian  orders  were  far  from  being 
richer  in  genera  formerly  than  now.  The  Ruminants,  Pa- 

*  Liitken's  Tidsskrift,  3d"  R.,  4de  Bind,  4de  Hcfte,  p.  351. 


288  GEOLOGY   AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

chyderms,  Elephants,  and  the  Carnivora  have  suffered  the 
greatest  loss.  Some  orders,  as  the  Cheiroptera  and  Mon 
keys,  number  perhaps  to-day  more  genera  than  formerly. 

"  4.  That  in  South  America  the  post-pliocene  mammalian 
fauna  was  more  distinct  from  the  present  fauna,  and  was 
more  especially  rich  in  peculiar  and  now  extinct  genera  than 
was  the  case  with  the  corresponding  fauna  in  the  Old  World. 

"  5.  That  the  poverty  in  large  animals,  one  may  almost  say 
the  dwarfish  character,  which  in  our  day  the  South  American 
mammalian  fauna,  in  comparison  with  the  mammals  of  the 
Eastern  hemisphere,  was  far  from  obtaining,  or  rather  did 
not  obtain  at  all  in  the  prehistoric  fauna.  The  post-pliocene 
Mastodons,  Macraucheniae,  and  Toxodons,  those  giant  arma 
dillos  and  sloths,  could  well  compete  with  the  Elephants, 
Rhinoceroses,  and  Hippopotami  which  at  the  same  time 
lived  in  Europe." 

Liais  shows  that  the  Rio  de  Sao  Francisco  is,  so  far  as 
length  is  concerned,  to  be  counted  as  belonging  to  the  six 
teenth  *  class  among  the  rivers  of  the  world,  since  its  length 
is  about  2,900  kilometres,  or  a  little  more  than  1,802  miles, 
and  he  tells  us  that  in  Europe  there  is  only  one  longer 
river,  namely,  the  Volga.  In  America  it  is  surpassed  by 
only  the  Amazonas,  the  Mississippi,  the  combined  Parana 
and  La  Plata,  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  the  McKenzie,  while 
in  South  America  it  occupies  the  third  rank.  The  Sao 
Francisco  takes  its  source  in  the  highlands  between  lat.  20° 
and  21°  S.,  and  flows  almost  due  north  to  its  confluence  with 
the  Rio  das  Yelhas,  in  lat.  17°  11'  54"  S.,  and  long.  1°  43' 
35"  west  of  Rio.  It  receives  two  considerable  affluents 
on  the  right  bank  before  reaching  the  Rio  das  Velhas,  — 
the  Pard,  which  unites  with  it  in  about  lat.  19°  10'  S., 

*  Burton  says  seventeenth  or  eighteenth. 


THE   SAO  FRANCISCO  BASIN.  289 

and  the  Paraopeba,  a  much  larger  stream,  which  enters  in 
about  18°  49'  S.  Both  of  these  streams  rise  in  the  same 
highlands  with  the  Sao  Francisco,  and  flow  northward, 
inclining  toward  the  west,  entering  the  main  stream  very 
obliquely.  The  Rio  das  Yelhas  is  the  main  branch  of  the 
Sao  Francisco.  It  takes  its  source  in  the  Serra  da  Mae 
dos  Homens,  near  Ouro  Preto,  and  runs  almost  parallel  to 
the  Sao  Francisco,  from  which  it  is  separated  by  a  little 
chain  of  limestone  hills  called  the  Serra  do  Espirito 
Santo.  Between  Sabara  and  its  mouth  the  river  has  to 
descend  nearly  263  metres,  but  it  makes  so  many  turns 
that  the  descent  per  metre  is  very  much  lessened,  not  only 
through  the  increased  distance,  but  through  the  friction  of 
the  river  against  its  banks.  Liais  makes  the  descent  of  the 
river  0.394m  per  kilometre,  while  the  velocity  of  the  current 
varies  from  0.30m  to  lm.  The  river  is  some  80m  in  width, 
and,  were  a  few  obstacles  removed,  it  would  be  navigable  by 
steam  from  its  mouth  to  Sabara,  120  leagues.  To  remove 
these  obstacles  in  the  way  of  navigation,  Liais  calculated  that 
an  expenditure  of  £  260,000  would  be  required.  Burton 
thinks  that  it  could  be  done  for  £  55,000.  The  Rio  das 
Velhas  flows  in  a  narrow  valley,  cut  through  the  limestone, 
and  bordered  by  bluffs  like  an  lowan  stream ;  and  Liais's 
map  shows  it  doubling  sharply  about  narrow  ridges,  some 
times  isolated,  at  other  times  having  the  character  of  spurs 
to  the  main  line  of  bluffs.  Here  and  there  older  rocks  form 
high  ridges  and  peaks,  but  these  are  rare.  Among  these 
is  the  Serra  da  Piedade,  eastward  of  Sabara,  —  a  mass  com 
posed  principally  of  iron  ore.  It  is  1,774  metres  in  height.* 
(Buril.) 

*  For  a  graphic  account  of  a  visit  to  the  Piedade,  see  Herr  Eug.  Warming's 
En  Udfluyl  til  Brasiltens  Bjerge,  Liitken's  Tidsskrift,  &c.,  l"e  Bind,  l"te  Hefte. 

VOL.    I.  13  g 


290  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

The  low  lands  bordering  the  Rio  das  Velhas  are  alluvial, 
rich,  healthy,  and  suitable  for  cultivation  with  the  plough. 
The  country  back  from  the  river  is  wavy  campos  land,  fit 
only  for  grazing. 

On  the  main  Sao  Francisco  also,  and  its  affluents,  there 
is  much  valuable  land.  The  two  rivers  are  quite  well 
settled,  and  from  one  end  to  the  other  there  is  seen  a  suc 
cession  of  fazendas,  hamlets,  and  not  a  few  considerable 
towns. 

Liais  has  drawn  a  beautiful  picture  of  the  scenery  of  the 
campos  and  of  the  Rio  das  Velhas,  and  rather  than  spoil  it 
by  a  translation,  I  beg  the  reader  to  allow  me  to  give  it  in 
his  own  words  :  *  — 

"  La  presence  d'un  6pais  tapis  de  graminees  sur  toute  la 
surface  du  sol  donne,  au  premier  abord,  1'idee  d'une  grande 
uniformite  d'aspect.  Cependant  il  n'en  est  pas  ainsi,  et  les 
paysages  des  Campos  sont  des  plus  varies.  Des  bouquets 
d'arbres  dans  lesquels  les  feuillages  les  plus  divers  s'allient 
aux  fleurs  de  toutes  couleurs  portees  par  les  guirlandes  des 
lianes  ou  par  de  superbes  orchide'es  ou  bromeliacees  para 
sites,  rompent  la  monotonie  du  tapis  de  verdure,  et  Ton  se 
croirait  dans  un  pare  admirablcment  cultive*.  D'autres  fois, 
sur  le  bord  de  petits  ruisseaux,  croissent  des  groupes  de 
gigantesques  Mauritia  vinifera,  palmiers  precieux  de  ces 
regions.  Leur  tronc  Sieve*,  surmont£  d'un  magnifique  para 
sol  form6  par  de  vastes  feuilles  en  eVentail,  produit  un  effct 
des  plus  pittoresques,  lorsque  surtout  une  immense  prairie 
est  parseme'e  ^a  et  la  de  ces  ve'getaux  gracieux.  D'autres 
fois,  et  ce  fait  s'observe  surtout  dans  les  regions  les  plus 
seches,  des  arbustes  tortueux  couvrcnt  tout  le  terrain,  et 
dans  ces  parties  des  Campos  se  font  remarquer  les  belles 

*  Butt,  de  la  Soc.  G&g.,  5  Scric,  XI.  pp.  396,  397. 


THE  SlO  FRANCISCO  BASIN.  291 

fleurs  des  Car'iocar,  des  Coclilospermum,  des  Vochysia. 
Enfin,  souvcnt,  au  milieu  d'une  vaste  plaine,  on  voit  surgir 
une  de  ces  curieuses  chaines  de  montagnes  de  gres  rouge- 
atre  ou  verdatre,  a  sommet  coupe"  en  table,  et  si  abondantes 
dans  tout  le  Bresil,  ou  M.  de  Castelnau  les  a  dcja  signale'es. 
Les  flancs  arides  de  ces  collines,  parfaitement  aligne'es  et 
qui  se  prolongent  sur  plusieurs  lieues  de  longueur  en  gar- 
dant  le  meme  niveau  et  presentant  1'aspect  d'un  toit,  sont 
converts  par  des  Melocactus  et  par  de  magnifiques  Kiel- 
meycra,  dont  les  grandcs  fleurs  roses  rappellent  celles  des 
Camillas.  Lorsqu'on  monte  sur  ces  collines,  qui  parfois 
atteigneiit  jusqu'a  500  metres  au  dessus  du  niveau  de  la 
region  environnante,  uu  admirable  panorama  se  ddroule 
sous  les  yeux  du  spectateur.  Je  me  rappclle  en  particulier 
un  magnifique  tableau  de  ce  genre  que  j'ai  apergu  en  gravis- 
sant  les  flancs  de  la  serra  de  Curumatahy.  Le  regard  em- 
brassait  toute  la  largeur  de  la  vallce  du  Rio  das  Yelhas. 
Son  fond  offrait  1'apparence  d'une  immense  plaine,  d'ou  on 
voyait  sortir  comme  des  ilots  les  serras  du  Parauna,  de 
Buenos-Ayres,  da  Garga  et  du  Bicudo.  La  riviere,  accom- 
pagnee  sur  ses  deux  rives  d'un  cordon  de  grands  arbres, 
dessinait  son  cour  au  fond  de  la  valle'e  par  une  ligne 
d'une  verdure  fraiclie  qui  tranchait  sur  la  teinte  rougeatre 
des  graminees  dessecliees  et  ^clairdes  par  les  feux  du  soleil 
couchant.  De  belles  teintes  violettes  couvraicnt  les  flancs 
des  montagnes  rapprochees,  et  dans  le  lointain,  a  une 
dnorme  distance,  une  chaine  de  montagnes  bleu  pale  se 
montrait  a  1'horizon.  C'etait  la  serra  da  Mata  da  Corda 
avec  ses  domes  dioritiques,  qui  limite  a  1'oviest  le  bassin  dvi 
San-Francisco.''  * 

*  A  similar  panorama  is  to  be  seen  from  the  edge  of  the  chapadas  bordering 
the  Calhao-Arassuahy  valley. 


292  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

The  Upper  Rio  de  Sao  Francisco  flows  with  a  more  direct 
course,  and  its  current  is  consequently  more  swift  than  that 
of  the  Rio  das  Velhas.  It  is  also  much  impeded  by  rapids 
and  falls.*  Notwithstanding  that  its  general  level  is  higher 
than  that  of  the  Rio  das  Velhas,  its  banks  are  very  un 
healthy,  and  terrible  fevers,  called  carnadeiras,  from  time 
to  time  drive  away  the  population  from  the  vicinity,  so 
that  Nature  has  made  the  Rio  das  Velhas  more  fit  to 
sustain  a  population  and  be  a  water  highway  than  the 
Upper  Sao  Francisco.  From  the  mouth  of  the  Rio  das 
Velhas  the  Sao  Francisco  would  be  navigable  for  steam 
boats,  with  some  interruptions  on  account  of  obstructions 
which  might  be  removed,  as  far  down  as  the  Villa  da  B<3a 
Vista,  a  distance  of  about  264  leagues.  From  that  point  to 
the  Porto  das  Piranhas,  a  little  over  70  leagues,  the  river 
is  not  navigable.  From  the  Porto  to  the  sea  steamers  al 
ready  ply.  To  remove  the  obstructions  from  the  main  river, 
and  make  it  navigable  for  steamers,  Mr.  Halfeld  estimates 
the  probable  cost  at  about  X  108,900.  A  canal  has  been 
proposed  to  unite  Boa  Vista  and  Porto  das  Piranhas !  This 
is  certainly  not  advisable  when  a  railway  could  be  con 
structed  at  vastly  less  cost.  Burton  estimates  that  an  ex 
penditure  of  £  203,000  would  be  sufficient  to  open  the 
Rio  das  Velhas  and  Sao  Francisco,  and  build  a  railway 
around  the  obstructions  of  the  Paulo  Affonso  to  the  Porto 
das  Piranhas. 

The  opening  of  steam  navigation  in  1867  below  Porto 
das  Piranhas  has  given  an  immense  impetus  to  the  trade  of 
the  whole  country  adjacent  to  the  Lower  Sao  Francisco,  and 
Burton  says  that  its  effects  are  visible  even  in  the  neighbor- 

*  The  worst  of  these  is  a  series  of  rapids  and  falls  called  the  Pirapora,  which 
forms  an  obstacle  that  it  would  cost  enormously  to  remove. 


THE   SAO   FRANCISCO   BASIN.  293 

ing  provinces  of  Piauhy  and  Ceard.  But  what  a  future  is 
in  store  for  the  great  Sao  Franciscan  valley  when  it  shall 
receive  the  gift  of  a  steamboat  and  shall  hear  the  scream  of 
the  locomotive  !  When  any  one  stops  to  consider  how  much 
Nature  has  done  towards  furnishing  Brazil  with  a  great  in 
terior  water  highway,  it  seems  wonderful  that  it  should  not 
long  since  have  been  improved.* 

The  railways  of  the  province  of  Rio  have  already  been 
described  in  the  "  Journey  in  Brazil."  Government  is 
pushing  the  Dom  Pedro  II.  line  northward  into  Minas,  with 
the  view  of  continuing  it  over  the  Mantiqueira  and  across 
the  highlands  into  the  valley  of  the  das  Velhas.  A  tram- 
road  has  been  commenced  from  Cachoeira,  on  the  bay  of 
Bahia,  to  Urubu,  on  the  great  river,  and  there  is  hope  for 
the  Sao  Francisco,  even  if  the  Pernambuco  and  Sao  Fran 
cisco  and  the  Bahia  and  Sao  Francisco  railways  fail,  as  they 
probably  will,  in  reaching  the  river. 

*  The  difficulty  seems  to  be  not  Paulo  Offonso,  nor  Sobradinho,  nor  Pira- 
pora,  but  politics,  and  the  jealousies  of  those  who  have  had  anything  to  do  with 
the  matter.  A  steamer  some  time  ago  was  built  in  sections,  and  started  on 
its  overland  journey  to  the  Sao  Francisco ;  but  I  cannot  learn  that  it  has  yet 
reached  its  destination.  Burton  says  that  a  M.  Dumont  brought  to  Rio  from 
Bordeaux  two  small  steamers,  which  were  to  be  transported  in  sections  to  the 
Rio  das  Velhas,  and  commence  running  in  1869,  so  that  it  is  probable  that 
steam  navigation  has  been  by  this  time  opened  on  that  river.  I  have  tried  in 
vain  through  my  Brazilian  correspondence  to  inform  myself  on  this  as  well  as 
other  matters  relating  to  Brazil,  but  it  seems  wellnigh  as  difficult  to  keep  one's 
self  posted  in  the  progress  of  affairs  in  the  interior  of  Brazil  as  it  is  to  obtain 
news  from  the  heart  of  China. 


294  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL  GEOGKAPHY. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  PROVINCE   OF   BAHIA,  —  INTERIOR. 

Journeys  of  Spix  and  Martins,  Nicolay  and  Lacerda,  Allen,  and  other  Explor 
ers.  —  Geological  and  Physical  Features  of  Country  between  Malhada  and 
Cachoeira,  described  by  Von  Martius.  —  Sandstones.  —  Remains  of  Masto 
dons  found  near  Villa  do  Rio  de  Contas.  —  Immense  Copper  Boulder  from 
Cachoeira.  —  Rev.  Mr.  Nicolay's  Report  of  Journey  from  Cachoeira  to  the 
Chapada  Diamantina.  —  Occurrence  of  Diamonds  in  Sandstones.  —  Lime 
stones.  —  Sterile  Plains.  —  Diamantiferous  Sands  of  the  Chapada.  —  The 
Diamond  Mines  of  Sincora  and  Lencoes.  —  Annual  Yield  of  the  Provinces 
in  Diamonds.  —  Mr.  Allen's  Report  of  a  Journey  from  Chiquc-Cliique,  via 
Jacobina,  to  Cachoeira.  —  Country  between  Chique-Chique  and  Jacobina  an 
immense  Limestone  Plain.  —  The  Chapada  at  Jacobina  a  detached  flat- 
topped  Mass  of  Sandstone.  —  Gneiss  Hills.  —  "  Lake  Plain,"  east  of  Jaco 
bina.  —  Knobs  —  Potholes,  probably  of  Glacial  Origin.  —  Eastern  Sandstone 
Plain.  —  Climate,  Vegetation,  &c.  of  Route.  —  Difference  in  Topography 
between  Gneiss  Regions  of  Bahia  and  the  Mucury  described  and  accounted 
for  —  Former  greater  Extension  of  Forests.  —  Von  Martius's  Description 
of  the  Country  between  Cachoeira  and  Joazeiro.  —  Country  near  Feira  da 
Conceicao  —  Scrra  do  Rio  Peixe.  —  Rio  Itapicurii.  —  Want  of  Rain  at 
Queimados.  —  Serra  de  Tiuba.  —  Tanques  and  Fossil  Bones  near  Coche 
d'Agua,  Barriga  Molle,  and  Neighborhood.  —  Monte  Santo.  —  The  Great 
Meteorolite  of  Bemdego.  —  Rock  Inscriptions.  —  Villa  Nova  da  Rainha.  — 
Joazeiro  to  be  the  Terminus  of  Bahia  and  Sao  Francisco  Railroad.  —  Rio  de 
Salitre.  —  Salt  Licks.  —  Mr.  Allen's  Note  on  the  Salt  of  the  Sao  Francisco 
Valley.  —  Saltpetre.  —  Geology  of  Country  between  Carunhanha  and  Uru- 
bvi.  —  Change  in  Geological  Structure,  Climate,  Vegetation,  &c.,  below 
Urubu. 

THE  interior  of  the  province  of  Bahia,  notwithstanding 
its  rich  diamond-mines,  is  almost  a  terra  incognita  to  the 
geologist  and  geographer.  It  forms,  however,  so  important 


PROVINCE   OF  BAHIA, —  INTERIOR.  295 

a  part  of  the  empire,  that  I  have  deemed  it  worth  while  to 
collect  the  most  important  facts  that  bear  on  its  geology 
and  physical  geography,  and  with  these  before  us,  I  think 
that  we  shall  be  able  to  come  to  some  trustworthy  conclu 
sion  as  to  its  general  structure.  Though  Spix  and  Martins 
explored  the  province  while  geology  was  yet  in  its  infancy, 
they  made  many  interesting  observations.  The  Rev.  Mr. 
Nicolay,  a  few  years  ago,  visited  the  diamond  district  in 
company  with  Dr.  de  Lacerda,  and  he  has  kindly  furnished 
me  with  some  notes  on  the  route  he  followed.  Mr.  J.  A. 
Allen,  ornithologist  on  the  Thayer  Expedition,  crossed  the 
province  from  Chique  Chique,  on  the  Sao  Francisco,  to  Ca- 
choeira,  and  I  am  indebted  to  him  for  a  very  interesting 
sketch  of  the  country  he  traversed.  That  part  of  the  Sao 
Francisco  valley  comprised  in  the  province  has  been  ex 
amined  by  Von  Martius,  St.  John,  and  others,  and  finally 
by  Burton,  so  that  we  know  its  general  geological  features. 
These  observers  furnish  us  with  three  complete  sections 
across  the  country  between  the  Sao  Francisco  and  the  sea, 
and  Mr.  Nicolay  gives  another  incomplete  one.  In  examin 
ing  this  material,  we  shall  take  up  these  sections  in  their 
order,  going  from  north  to  south,  and  we  will  first  follow 
Von  Martius  in  his  journey  from  Malhada  to  the  coast. 

This  little  town  is  situated  on  the  Rio  Sao  Francisco,  op 
posite  the  mouth  of  the  Rio  Carunhanha,  in  the  province  of 
Bahia,  at  the  extreme  northern  angle  of  Minas  Geraes.  Von 
Martius  says  that  the  vicinity  "  is  composed  of  limestone, 
which  the  burning  of  the  woods  not  infrequently  changes 
on  the  surface  into  a  white  chalk-like  crust.  This  rock 
formation  we  left,  on  the  third  day's  ride,  between  the 
fazendas  Curralinho  and  Pe  da  Serra,  where  we  observed 
granite,  and  on  it  here  and  there  layers  of  a  porous  iron 


296  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

sandstone,  in  part  weathered  to  iron  ochre."  He  describes 
this  whole  region  as  being  covered  by  a  catinga  growth 
with  Cerei  and  Cnidoscoli,  &c.  The  water  is  bad  and  slimy. 
The  population  is  principally  engaged  in  raising  cattle  and 
horses.  Leaving  this  part  of  the  country,  high  banks  of 
red  granite,  some  bare,  others  covered  thickly  with  cacti, 
were  met  with.  Near  the  Serra  dos  Montes  are  rounded 
hills  and  mountains,  composed  of  diorite,  and  destitute 
both  of  soil  and  vegetation.  The  rock  forming  the  Serra 
dos  Montes  Altos  is  gneiss  and  granite.  The  soil  is  in 
many  places  highly  impregnated  with  saltpetre,  but  this 
salt  is  extracted  to  no  important  extent.  In  the  Serra  de 
Caytele  quartzose  shale  or  quartz  rock,  like  that  found  so 
extensively  through  Minas,  abounds.  It  is  flesh-red  in 
color,  almost  horizontal,  and  frequently  traversed  by  heavy 
veins  of  white  quartz.  East  of  Caytele'  is  a  level  high  land 
of  this  same  quartz  rock.  On  leaving  this,  one  descends 
to  reach  a  hilly  country  composed  of  gneiss,  covered  with 
catinga  forests. 

The  mountains  in  the  vicinity  of  the  fazenda  of  Joazeiro 
are  of  granite  and  gneiss  granite.  The  road  thence  to  the 
Villa  do  Rio  de  Contas  "  rises  gradually,  and  leads  finally 
into  a  valley  shut  in  on  both  sides  by  high  mountains.  The 
Serra  da  Villa  Velha  rises  at  least  1,200  feet  above  the  villa. 
The  base  of  the  mountain  is  composed  of  mica  slate,  on 
which  rests  red  quartzites  (Quarzschiefer),  and  over  these 
white  rocks  of  the  same  kind."  The  strike,  according  to  our 
author,  is  from  N.  N.  W.  to  S.  S.  0.,  with  a  westerly  dip, 
which  is  higher  in  the  upper  beds  than  in  the  lower.  The 
foot  of  the  mountain  is  covered  with  light  vegetation,  which 
resembles  the  flora  of  Serro  Frio ;  on  the  top  it  resembles 
that  of  Tejuco.  Quartz  rock,  thinly  laminated  and  clas- 


PROVINCE   OF   BAHIA,  —  INTERIOR.  297 

tic,  was  observed.  Gold  occurs  in  veins  in  the  rock,  and 
also  in  the  sands  and  gravels  of  the  Brumado  and  other 
streams,  where  it  is  found  in  grains  and  nuggets.  Spix 
and  Martius  speak  of  one  nugget  having  been  found  weigh 
ing  eight  pounds.  Two  leagues  north  of  the  villa  are 
other  gold  deposits.  The  great  sandstone  formation  is 
rightly  described  as  extending  northeastward  under  the 
names  Morro  das  Almas,  Serra  de  Catule*,  Serra.  da  Cha- 
pada,  £c.,  to  Jacobina. 

Spix  and  Martius  describe  the  top  of  the  Morro  Redondo 
as  flat,  and  speak  of  the  occurrence  there  of  a  hard,  white 
sand  rock,  on  which  were  drawings  in  red  paint,  supposed 
to  have  been  made  by  the  Indians.  This  rock  rests  upon 
granite,  which  in  some  places  contains  augite.  North  of 
this  is  the  Serra  de  Tiuba,  and  between  it  and  the  Sao 
Francisco  they  found  green  pistacite  in  the  granite. 

Over  the  quartz  rock  lies  a  red  sandstone,  concerning 
which  Von  Martius  shall  speak  in  his  own  words  :  — 

"  The  third  formation,  which  we  met  here,  is  that  of  the 
so-called  red  Todtliegende,  or  older  sandstone.  It  occupies 
the  highest  point  of  the  mountain,  as  even  at  Brumadinho, 
and  shows,  without  distinct  stratification,  here  and  there  a 
thickness  of  several  hundred  feet.  This  rock  is  here  com 
posed  of  grayish  white  quartz  grains,  in  which  pieces  of  red 
dish  quartz  sandstone  and  of  red  Grauwacke  slate  are  im 
bedded,  and  it  is  not  infrequently  intermixed  with  much 
silver  white  mica.  To  this  formation  or  to  one  of  the  over 
lying  clays  belong  probably  certain  nodules  of  clay  iron 
stone  which  are  hollow  inside,  and  contain  a  very  fine  red 
powder,  which,  according  to  the  results  of  an  examination 
made  by  my  honored  colleague,  Hofr.  Vogel,  is  composed  of 
iron  oxide,  argillaceous  and  siliceous  earth,  with  some  lime 

13* 


298  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

and  magnesia,  and  is  used  by  the  inhabitants  as  a  tonic. 
The  highest  mountain  of  this  district,  the  Serra  de  Itaubira, 
probably  presents  the  same  formation  of  the  red  Todtlie- 
gende  on  its  conical  head.  "We  saw  it  northwestward  from 
the  Morro  Redondo,  rising  high  into  the  blue  ether,  and  are 
of  the  opinion  that  it  is  at  least  5,000  feet  high." 

From  the  vicinity  of  the  river  Sant'  Antonio  a  beautiful 
variety  of  alabaster  is  obtained,  and,  according  to  Spix 
and  Martius,  it  occurs  in  large  quantity.  It  is  sent  to  Bahia 
to  be  made  into  images  and  ornaments.  Dr.  Lacerda  kindly 
presented  me  with  a  fine  specimen  of  this  mineral. 

Bones  and  teeth  of  the  Mastodon*  occur  apparently  in 
plenty  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Rio  de  Sant'  Antonio,  near  the 
Villa  do  Rio  de  Contas,  and  near  the  old  fazenda  de  Bom 
Jesus  de  Meira,  eight  leagues  from  the  Villa,  buried  in  the 
soil. 

Between  the  Villa  and  the  Rio  de  Contas  are  quartzites, 
where  mica  slates  passing  into  granulite  make  their  appear 
ance  lying  in  granite.  The  granulite  "  holds  here  and  there 
masses  (J&nauern)  of  a  very  hard  coarse-grained  cellular 
gray  quartz.  On  this  formation  we  observed  layers  of  a 
light  green,  somewhat  porous,  very  compact  sandstone, 
which  appears  exactly  like  that  which  in  Germany  is  here 
and  there  interstratified  with  the  Quadersandstein.  Parched 
woods,  leafless  in  the  dry  season,  stretch  out  in  immeasur 
able  extension  over  the  hilly  or  even  mountainous  land ; 
large  tracts  are  covered  with  bushes  of  the  Ariri  palm, 
(Cocas  schizophylla  Mart.),  ....  and  here  and  there  a 
lighter  clump  of  the  Aricuri  palm  (Cocos  coronata  Mart.)." 

The  base  of  the  Serra  das  Lages  is  composed  of  clay  and 
mica  slates,  chiefly  greenish-gray  in  color,  some  approach- 

*  See  note  to  p.  261. 


PROVINCE   OF  BAHIA,  —  INTERIOR.  299 

ing  chlorite  slate,  and  containing  octahedral  crystals  of  iron. 
Higher  up  quartzites  appear,  and  on  the  top  the  vegetation 
resembles  that  of  Minas.  Near  the  fazenda  of  Lages,  on 
the  top,  are  heavy  deposits  of  iron  ore,  in  the  form  of  mag 
netic  iron,  specular  iron,  and  brown  iron-stone ;  "  the  last 
furnishes  not  infrequently  considerable  quantities  of  stil- 
posederite  (phosphate  of  iron)."  The  prevailing  strike  of 
the  quartz  rock  is  from  north  to  south  im  Stunde  22,  23, 
and  24,  the  dip  of  the  strata  at  high  angles  from  40°  -  60° 
towards  the  east. 

In  the  Serra  de  Sincord  the  quartz  rocks  (Quarz- 
schiefer)  have  a  strike  of  N.  S.  im  Stunde  22,  23,  and  24, 
and  dip  with  high  angles  toward  the  east.  It  forms  the 
division  between  the  high  and  low  lands  of  the  province  of 
Bahia ;  east  of  it  obtains  a  changeable  wet  climate,  while 
to  the  west  there  is  a  dry  climate. 

Leaving  the  Serra  of  Sincord  one  meets  with  granite, 
hornblende,  and  clay  slates  and  diorite.  These  are  over 
laid  with  layers  of  clayey  sand  of  an  ochre-yellow  color, 
which  in  some  places  is  even  ten  feet  thick.  "  Near  Cara- 
bato  there  overlies  the  granite  an  older  sandstone  (  Graues 
Todtliegendes),  which  is  composed  of  fine-grained  quartz, 
feldspar,  and  mica,  and  approaches  feldspar  porphyry.  In 
this  are  imbedded  rounded  masses  of  quartz." 

At  Olho  d'Agua  great  blocks  of  white  quartz  are  ex 
posed. 

"  The  soil,  which  already  at  Olho  d'Agua  began  to  be 
hilly  and  mountainous,  continues  with  similar  irregularity, 
and  covered  with  catinga,  until  finally  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
Fazenda  do  Rio  Secco,  which  we  reached  at  the  end  of  the 
fifth  day,  the  road  sank  gradually  between  some  high,  bare, 
granite  mountains,  where  the  traveller  reaches  a  plain,  which, 


300  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

covered  merely  with  dried  shrubs  a  few  feet  high,  presents 

a  more  free  aspect At  Rio  Secco  there  rested  on  the 

granite,  which  when  bedded  showed  a  strike  of  W.W.W.  - 
S.  S.  0.,  and  a  westerly  dip  (Einschiesseri)  under  a  high 
angle,  a  fine-grained  hornblende  rock  and  iron-stone." 
The  country  between  Villa  da  Pedra  Branca  and  Cachoeira 
Spix  and  Martius  found  to  be  composed  of  gneiss  and  gran 
ite,  with  occasional  beds  of  hornblende  rock  and  mica 
slate. 

In  the  last  century  there  was  found  near  Cachoeira  a 
huge  mass  of  native  copper,  which  was  carried  to  Lisbon. 
Spix  and  Martius  *  visited  the  locality  where  this  mass  was 
found,  and  could  discover  nothing  that  would  justify  them 
in  believing  that  the  copper  was  derived  from  the  rocks  of 
the  vicinity,  which  consist  of  gneiss.  They  afterwards  saw 
the  specimen  in  the  museum  at  Lisbon  and  examined  it. 
It  bears  the  following  inscription :  — 

"  Maria  I  et  Petro  III  imperantibus,  cuprum  nativum 
minerae  ferri  mixtum  pondcris  libr.  MMDCXYI  in  Bahiensi 
Prsefectura  prope  oppidum  Cachoeira  detectum  et  in  Prin- 
cipis  Museo  P.  MDCCLXXXII."  According  to  Yandelli, 
in  the  Memorias  da  Academia  P^cal  das  Sdcncias  tie  Lisbda, 
Vol.  I.  p.  261,  the  outside  of  the  mass  is  of  a  hardened 
dark  yellow  color.  A  portion  of  the  surface  was  analyzed, 
and  gave  ninety-seven  per  cent  of  pure  copper,  with  no  trace 

*  According  to  Von  Martius,  Reise,  Band  II.  Seite  746,  copper  occurs  at 
the  following  places  in  Brazil :  — 

Riberao  de  Sao  Domingos,  near  Pe  do  Morro,  in  the  Comarca  do  Serra 
Frio,  Minas  Geraes,  where  it  is  found  in  greenstone. 

Primeiros  Campos,  in  the  Serra  Curaca,  Province  da  Bahia,  chloride  (Saltz- 
saurcs)  and  sulphuret,  occurring  in  granite. 

Arn-ial  do  Pinheiro,  Cattas  Altas  da  Itaperava  and  Inficionado  in  Minas 
Geraes. 


PROVENCE   OF   BAHIA,  —  INTERIOR.  301 

of  either  gold  or  silver.  Vadelli  says  that  a  second  and 
smaller  piece  was  found  near  it.  Spix  and  Martius  appear 
to  have  considered  the  mass  as  a  meteorolite,  but  I  have 
seen  fragments  of  amygdaloidal  trap  from  the  vicinity  of 
Cachoeira,  and  I  am  inclined  to  consider  it  an  erratic,  de 
rived  from  this  trap. 

Mr.  Allen  gives  me  the  following  note :  "  The  country 
between  Malhada  and  the  coast,  in  all  its  leading  geological 
features,  as  given  by  Yon  Martius,  bears  a  most  striking 
resemblance  to  that  traversed  by  myself  some  100  to  200 
miles  to  the  north  of  this  line.  Some  minor  features,  as 
the  occurrence  here  and  there  of  clays  and  slates,  etc.,  I 
noticed  at  only  one  or  two  points,  and  only  as  insignificant 
patches." 

"  At  Chique  Chique  I  observed  very  small  patches  of 
magnetic  iron  ore,  at  times  apparently  in  place  and  resting 
on  the  limstones,  but  commonly  occurring  as  detached 
patches  and  irregular  fragments  of  large  size.  It  is  un 
doubtedly  similar  to  that  spoken  of  by  Burton  as  occurring 
in  large  quantities  a  little  below  Chique  Chique." 

Mr.  Nicolay  says  that  the  country  rises  toward  the  Chapa- 
da  Diamantina  by  a  series  of  terraces,  and  he  estimates  the 
height  of  the  chapada  at  3,000  feet  above  the  sea,  which 
would  coincide  with  Mr.  Allen's  estimate  of  the  height  of 
the  chapada  at  Jacobina,  and  of  my  own  estimate  of  the 
height  of  the  chapada  at  Minas  Novas.  At  the  "  chapa 
da,"  says  Mr.  Nicolay,  there  are  "  shales,  sandstones,  and 
conglomerates.  The  sandstones  vary  much  in  quality,  both 
as  to  composition  and  hardness,  but  are  all  evidently  the 
direct  products  of  primitive  rocks.  Upon  these  sandstones 
there  is  Cor  was)  a  stratum  of  quartzite,  in  many  places 
still  very  distinct,  in  which  are  found  crystals  of  magnetic 


302  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY 

and  other  pyrites,  and  among  the  sands  created  by  the 
disintegration  of  this  rock,  as  marked  by  these  crystals, 
diamonds  are  usually  found. 

"  The  superposition  of  the  harder  upon  the  softer  strata 
is  the  cause  of  the  presence  of  those  caverns  called  g-runa, 
which  frequently  perforate  the  hills,  and  in  which  many 
diamonds  are  found.  They  are  all  formed  by  the  percola 
tion  of  water  through  the  rock,  and  the  disintegration  of 
the  softer  strata ;  but  in  the  larger  number  of  cases  not  a 
cavern  but  a  ruin  is  formed,  and  the  surface  presents  a  wild 
confusion  of  enormous  blocks  or  slabs  of  conglomerate  sixty 
to  seventy  feet  square,  and  from  ten  to  fifteen  feet  thick,  for 
the  larger  examples.  As  yet  I  am  not  aware  that  any 
fossils  have  been  found  in  this  district.  The  chapada  forms 
the  eastern  limit  of  the  barrier  of  the  great  river  Sao  Fran 
cisco,  and  I  can  trace  it  from  the  sources  of  the  Paraguassu 
into  Goyaz. 

"  The  chapada  is  separated  from  the  next  division  by  the 
valley  of  the  river  Sao  Josd  on  the  south,  a  tributary  on  the 
left  bank  of  the  Paraguassu.  The  next  range,  which  may 
be  called  the  limestone  range,  that  rock  being  developed  in 
magnificent  cliffs,  especially  on  the  eastern  side,  and  pre 
senting  numerous  caverns,  is  distant  about  twelve  miles. 

"  I  am  not  aware  that  this  limestone  has  been  more  than 
casually  examined  by  Vivian  near  Joazeiro,  by  myself  at 
Mocambo,  and  by  Cato  at  Rio  Una,  an  affluent  of  the 
Paraguassu,  right  bank,  nor  have  I  heard  that  any  fossils 
have  been  found  in  it.  It  is  very  distinctly  bedded.*  Im- 

*  Mr.  Allen,  who  has  carefully  read  Mr.  Nicolay's  report,  says  :  — 

"  The  limestones  mentioned  by  Nicolay  greatly  puzzle  me.     They  seem  to 

occ'ir  on  tributaries  of  the  Paraguassu,  and  hence  must  be  east  of  the  chapada. 

If  so,  beds  of  limestones  must  occur  on  both  sides  of  the  divide  which  sep- 


PROVINCE   OF   BAHIA,  —  INTERIOR.  303 

mediately  to  the  east  of  this  occurs  a  belt  of  violent  dislo 
cation,  say  twelve  leagues  in  breadth,  or  more,  presenting 
irregular  hills  of  primitive  rock  [gneiss,  c.  F.  H.]  with 
valleys  between  them,  not  having1  usually  any  outlet*  and 
for  the  most  part  covered  with  a  forest  of  ancient  growth. 

"  Here  the  road  is  strewed  with  large  quartz  pebbles, 
and  boulders  of  all  sizes,  qualities,  and  colors.  The  brejos, 
or  hollows  between  the  hills,  are  sometimes  lakes,  more 
often  swamps,  and  some  occasionally  are  quite  dry.  This 
is  the  Serra  do  Mocambo,  Serra  da  Calderao  da  Onc,a,  and 
Serra  da  Saude,  and  is  marked  on  the  south  of  the  river 
Paraguassu  by  the  Mato  dos  Macacos. 

"  To  these  hills  succeeds  a  zone  of  taboleiros  or  a  taboleiro 
or  table  land,  where  gneissose  rocks  are  often  exposed  on  the 
surface,  which  is  nearly  level,  but  varied  by  occasional  small 
lakes  or  ponds,  and  riachos  or  watercourses,  having  no  final 
issues  for  their  waters,  and  often  dry  during  a  part  of  the 
year.  This  is  crossed  by  the  deep  cut,  formed  by  the  Rio 
Paraguassu,  which,  like  other  rivers  to  the  north,  presents, 
to  the  extent  of  its  enchcnte,  or  overflow,  sometimes  a  mile 
in  width,  a  belt  of  verdure ;  all  the  rest  is  arid,  a  region  of 
cacti  and  prickly  and  aromatic  plants. 

"  Upon  this  surface,  however,  at  long  intervals,  appear  iso 
lated  masses  of  primitive  rock  at  Balm,  about  150  feet  high 
[above  the  plain],  and  a  range  of  similar  rocks  or  hills, 
known  as  the  Serra  das  Pedras  Brancas,  from  which  some 
outliers,  singularly  rounded  on  the  surface,  are  presented 
at  Pedra  Redonda.  This  crosses  the  Taboleiro  at  about 

arates  the  valley  of  the  Sao  Francisco  from  the  sea.  If  so,  it  is  a  patch  be 
longing  undoubtedly  to  the  limestones  developed  so  extensively  in  the  Sao 
Francisco  valley.  In  his  gneiss  taboleiro  I  recognize  my  '  lake  plain.'  (See 
report  of  my  journey.)" 

*  This  is  one  of  the  features  of  a  glaciated  surface.  —  C.  F.  II. 


304  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL    GEOGRAPHY. 

four  leagues  from  its  eastern  extremity,  but  without  entirely 
breaking  its  continuity.  Beyond  this  the  Serra  da  Boque 
rao,  also  of  primitive  rock,  for  the  most  part  bare,  and  im 
mediately  to  the  east  the  Serra  Mangabeira,  where  I  ex 
pect  on  further  examination  to  find  sandstone ;  beyond  this 
is  undulating  wooded  ground  for  six  leagues,  to  another 
taboleiro  of  the  same  geological  character  as  the  other,  but 
presenting  a  superior  vegetation,  and  which  is  again  bounded 
to  the  east  by  a  chain  of  nearly  continuous  elevations,  which 
forms  the  main  buttress  of  the  system,  the  west  limit  of  the 
Lagoa  do  Rio  Paraguassu,  and  to  the  east  of  which,  only  so 
far  as  I  know,  excepting  at  the  chapada,  sandstones  are 
developed." 

"  Throughout  the  entire  district  the  bottom  rocks  are 
gneissose,  varying  occasionally  to  porphyry  and  granite  on 
the  one  hand,  and  hornblende  and  quartz  rock  on  the  other, 
occasionally  presenting  micaschist." 

Mr.  Nicolay  further  remarks  that  "  not  only  near  the 
limestone  ranges,  but  on  the  edge  of  the  great  taboleiro, 
saline  streams  are  found." 

From  Mr.  Nicolay's  report,  as  well  as  from  what  he  has 
stated  to  me  in  conversation,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the 
diamonds  of  the  interior  of  Bahia  occur  in  a  sandstone  bed, 
forming  part  of  the  great  sheet  which  once  overspread  the 
whole  country,  tying  in  with  the  sandstones  and  clays  of  the 
Jequitinhonha  basin ;  and  this  sandstone,  as  we  shall  see 
from  Mr.  Allen's  report,  is  found  also  at  Jacobina,  at  which 
place,  in  1755,  diamonds  were  first  discovered  in  the  prov 
ince  of  Bahia. 

I  saw  specimens  of  the  diamantiferous  rock  from  the 
chapada  in  the  hands  of  Mr.  Nicolay.  It  was  not  itacolu- 
mite,  but  it  seemed  to  me  to  bear  a  very  close  resemblance 


PROVINCE   OF   BAHIA,  —  INTERIOR.  305 

to  the  sandstone  bed  overlying  the  clays  in  the  Jequitin- 
honha  basin.  It  also  bore  a  remarkable  resemblance  to  the 
tertiary  sandstones  on  the  Bahia  Railroad  near  Pitanga, 
where  diamonds  also  occur.  The  diamantiferous  sands  I 
saw  in  the  possession  of  Dr.  de  Lacerda  at  Bahia  appeared 
to  have  resulted  from  the  disintegration  of  the  chapada 
sandstones.* 

It  is  much  to  be  regretted  that  the  diamond  mines  of  the 
Chapada  Diamantina  have  never  been  critically  examined, 
for  I  feel  convinced  that  from  their  study  the  mystery  of  the 
origin  of  the  diamond  is  to  be  solved. 

The  metamorphio  basis  of  the  province  of  Bahia  presents 
a  long  and,  on  the  whole,  a  gentle  slope  towards  the  sea, 
and  a  shorter  and  equally  gentle  incline  towards  the  Sao 
Francisco  valley.  Along  the  highest  part  of  the  province 
there  runs  an  irregular  strip  of  sandstones,  occasionally 
sending  off  spurs  in  various  directions,  and  not  infrequently 
forming  isolated  patches.  These  sandstones,  lying  nearly 
if  not  quite  horizontally,  form  a  series  of  chapadas  or  table 
lands,  and  flat-topped  hills  of  greater  or  less  extent,  and 
with  an  elevation  of  about  3,000  feet.  On  the  eastern  side 
of  this  line  of  chapadas  is  the  diamond  district,  embracing 

*  Specimens  of  diamantiferous  sands  sent  from  Bahia  to  M.  Damour  were 
found  to  contain  <he  following  minerals  :  hyaline  quartz,  jasper  and  silex, 
itaoolumite,  disthene  or  cyanite,  zircon  or  hyacinth,  feldspar,  red  garnet,  mag- 
nesian  garnet,  mica,  tourmaline  (green  and  black),  hyalotourmaline  (feijao), 
talc,  wavellite  (cabodo),  yttric  phosphate,  titaniferous  yttric  phosphate,  diaspore, 
rutile,  brookite,  anatase,  hydrated  titanic  acid,  tantalite,  baierine  or  colum- 
bite,  litaniferous  ferric  oxide,  stannic  oxide,  mercuric  sulphide,  and  gold. 
(Bulletin  de  la  Soci&€  Ge'ologique  de  Paris,  2a«  Serie,  seance  du  7  Avril,  1856, 
p.  542.)  Another  paper  on  the  diamantiferous  sands  of  Bahia,  by  the  same 
author,  is  to  be  found  in  the  Bulletin  de  la  Soci&e  Philomathtque,  5  Fevrier, 
1853.  I  have  been  able  to  consult  neither  of  these  papers,  and  I  quote 
through  Burton. 


306  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

the  head-waters  of  the  Paraguassu  and  Itapicurii,  forming 
an  irregular  area  nearly  150  miles  in  length  from  north 
to  south. 

The  Serra  or  Chapada  do  Sincora  lies  many  leagues  to  the 
southeastward  of  the  Serra  da  Chapada  proper,  of  which  it 
is  a  spur  or  outlier,  and  it  appears  to  cross  the  Paraguassu 
with  a  northeast  trend,  but  the  maps  vary  to  so  great  a  de 
gree  that  I  can  form  no  satisfactory  conclusion  as  to  its 
extent.  The  only  description  1  can  find  of  the  serra  is  con 
tained  in  a  letter  from  the  geologist  Helmreichen.*  Ac 
cording  to  him  the  serra  "  bears  the  same  raw  and  un- 
hospitable  character  to  the  eye  as  that  of  the  Grao  Mogor ; 
extensive  campos  form  the  country  between  its  western  slope 
and  the  Serra  da  Chapada,  while  the  country  from  its  east 
ern  slope  toward  the  coast  is  covered  by  thick  woods."  He 
says  that  there  is  a  close  analogy  between  this  serra  and  the 
Grao  Mogor  in  geological  structure,  and  that  probably  it  is 
composed  of  itacolumite.  "  The  first  discovery  of  diamonds 
was  here  made  on  the  banks  of  the  Macujd,  and  the  Com- 
mercio  (the  chief  place),  distant  ninety  miles  from  Bahia,  is 
on  the  Macuj6  on  the  lands  belonging  to  the  Fazenda  de  Sao 
Joa'o.  Diamonds  were  found  in  the  serra  of  Sincora  over 
an  extent  of  twenty  leagues.  The  washings  on  the  west 
side  of  this  serra  have  up  to  the  present  turned  out  to  be 
poor.  Considerable  quantities  of  diamonds  were,  however, 
washed  from  the  Macujd  itself,  and  from  the  points  where 
the  Paraguassu  and  Andarahy  cut  through  the  serra.  On 
the  Andarahy  the  principal  washings  are  confined  to  the 
brooks  of  the  vicinity,  which  flow  into  it  on  its  right  banks. 

*  Quoted  by  Von  Tschudi,  Reisen  durch  Siid  America,  Zweiter  Band,  154" 
Seite.  Helmreichen  did  not  himself  visit  the  Serra  do  Sincora,  but  he  obtained 
his  information  from  a  traveller  in  whom  he  put  confidence. 


PROVINCE   OF   BAHIA,  —  INTERIOR.  307 

Here  there  are  many  snakes,  much  fever  and  ague,  and 
many  diamonds."  A  very  rich  deposit  has  been  discovered 
within  the  last  few  years  at  Sincora,  and  the  city  has  grown 
to  a  very  large  size. 

The  city  of  Lei^oes,  which  is  the  government  head-quar 
ters  of  the  diamond  district,  is  situated  about  thirty  miles 
to  the  north  a  little  east  of  Macuj^  or  Santa  Isabel  do  Pa- 
raguassu,  and  is  a  large  and  very  important  place,  and  in 
the  vicinity  great  quantities  of  diamonds  are  washed.*  Cas- 
telnau  says  that  along  the  course  of  the  river  of  Lenses 
there  are  pot-holes,  some  of  which  are  of  the  depth  of 
twenty-five  with  width  of  one  or  two  bra$os  !  In  these  cal- 
deiroes,  as  they  are  called,  a  considerable  number  of  dia 
monds  have  been  found.  The  same  author  says  that  these 
pot-holes  are  found  also  in  the  chapada  and  are  always  rich. 

Diamonds  also  occur  at  a  locality  not  far  southeast  of 
Chique  Chique,  at  a  locality  called  the  Corrego  de  Santo 
Ignacio,  visited  by  Burton,  who  describes  the  vicinity  as 
composed  of  itacolumite.(?)  He  says  that  there  occurs  here 
as  at  the  chapada  "  a  bouldery,  not  pebbly  conglomerate, 
which  resembles  that  of  the  Scottish  Old  Red,"  f  so  that  it 
would  seem  that  the  hills  among  which  the  Santo  Ignacio 

*  "Lcs  plus  beaux  diamants  de  la  chapada  viennent  dos  Lencoes  (les  draps), 
lieu  situe  a  vingt  lieues  de  Santa-Isabel,  cette  bourgade  tire  son  nom  d'un  gros 
ruisseau,  enclave  dans  une  gorge  profonde ;  il  se  precipite  de  sommets  eleves  sur 
de  large  dalles,  et  apres  y  avoir  parcouru  environ  trois  cents  metres,  il  se  jette 
en  formant  des  cascades  dans  le  rio  Sao  Jose.  Tout  a  1'entour  de  ces  mines,  des 
montagnes  enticres,  des  blocs  dnormes  composes  en  grande  partie  de  cailloux 
roule's  et  cimentes  par  une  pate  ferrugincuse  et  presque  noire,  temoignent  de 
grandes  revolutions  geologiques.  En  ge'neral,  les  pierres  ont  des  formes  tres 
re'gulieres,  et  celles  qui  pre'sentent  la  cristallisation  en  octaedre  forment  la 
grande  exception."  Castelnau,  Histoire  du  Voyage,  Tome  deuxieme,  p.  343 
(note). 

t  Burton,  Highlands  of  Brazil,  Vol.  II.  p.  336. 


308  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

diamond  diggings  are  located  belong  to  the  same  formation 
as  that  of  the  chapada.*  Burton  describes  the  Serra  do 
Pintor  as  table-topped. 

I  regret  that  I  have  been  unable  to  obtain  precise  infor 
mation  concerning  the  annual  yield  of  the  diamond-mines  of 
Bahia  as  well  as  to  the  size,f  quality,  and  relative  value  of 
the  stones.  According  to  the  report  of  the  President  of  the 
province,  published  in  1866,  there  were  exported  through 
the  custom-house  as  follows :  during  the  year  1862  -  63, 
diamonds  to  the  value  of  1.647  :450|000  ;  during  1863-64, 
1.476:9001000;  and  during  1864-65,  1.381 :500$000  ; 
which  figures  show  a  decrease  during  these  three  years,  but 
they  cannot  be  considered  as  giving  even  an  approximate 
idea  of  the  annual  yield,  for  only  a  very  small  proportion  of 
the  diamonds  actually  exported  pass  through  the  custom 
house,  so  great  are  the  facilities  for  smuggling.  So  nearly 

*  Mr.  Allen,  in  looking  over  my  MS.  has  kindly  added  the  following 
note :  — 

"  The  Serra  do  Assurua  I  did  not  visit,  but  I  saw  it  at  a  distance  and  infer 
red  it  to  be  of  sandstone.  As  it  overlies  the  limestone,  it  seems  to  be  evidently  a 
part  of  the  sandstone  formation  noticed  by  me  to  the  eastward,  as  already  men 
tioned.  I  am  now  fully  convinced  of  the  truthfulness  of  your  generalization  in 
respect  to  the  former  great  extent  and  subsequent  denudation  of  the  sandstones. 
The  occurrence  of  gold  and  diamonds  in  the  above-named  serra,  as  also  at  Jaco- 
bina,  was  repeatedly  spoken  of  to  me  by  many  trustworthy  persons." 

In  1858  the  government  conceded  to  the  Companhia  Metallurgica  do  Assurua 
the  right  to  mine  gold  and  other  metals  within  the  space  of  four  leagues.  Oli- 
veira,  Exploracao  de  Mineraes,  published  as  an  Annexe  in  a  government  report 
for  1866.  My  copy  has  no  title-page. 

t  The  diamonds  of  the  chapada  are  often  of  considerable  size,  and  Burton 
says  :  "  The  Chapada  of  Bahia  also  produced  a  stone  weighing  76J  carats,  and, 
when  cut  into  a  drop-shaped  brilliant,  it  proved  to  possess  extraordinary  play 
and  lustre.  It  was  bought  by  Mr.  Arthur  Lyon  of  Bahia  for  30  contos 
[S  15,000],  and  it  is  now,  I  am  told,  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  E.  T.  Dresden." 
(Burton,  Highlands  of  Brazil,  Vol.  II.  p.  153.) 


PROVINCE   OF   BAHIA,  —  INTERIOR.  309 

as  I  am  able  to  ascertain,  the  annual  production  in  dia 
monds  of  the  province  cannot  fall  far  short  of  three  millions 
of  dollars. 

I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  Allen  for  the  following :  — 


Notes  on  the  Geological  Character  of  the  Country  between  Chique- 
Chique,  on  the  Rio  de  Sao  Francisco,  and  Bahia,  Brazil.  By 
J.  A.  ALLEN. 

Chique-Chique  is  a  small  village,  situated  on  the  Rio  de  Sao 
Francisco,  about  fifty  miles  below  the  mouth  of  the  Rio  Grande  ; 
it  is  a  little  north  of  the  parallel  of  Bahia.  My  journey  thence  to 
the  latter  place  was  by  the  route  usually  taken  by  mule-trains  in 
passing  from  the  Villa  da  Barra  do  Rio  Grande  and  Chique-Chique 
to  the  coast,  namely,  by  way  of  Engenho  Velho,  Jacare",  Jacobina, 
Arraial  do  Riacho  do  Jacuhipe,  Villa  da  Feira  da  Sta.  Anna,  and 
Cachoeira.  As  I  found  it  necessary  to  perform  the  journey  over 
this  unsettled  and  poorly  watered  district  in  company  with  the 
large  eastward-bound  tropas,  I  was  obliged  to  pass  on  hurriedly, 
and  had  not  time  to  explore  the  country  adjacent  to  my  route,  or 
for  a  satisfactory  examination  of  many  of  the  interesting  localities 
immediately  upon  it.  The  following  is  a  summary  of  such  geo 
logical  observations  as  I  was  able  to  make,  the  geology  of  the 
country  being  to  me  at  the  time  a  matter  of  secondary  interest. 

The  country  between  the  Sao  Francisco  at  Chique-Chique  *  and 
the  coast  at  Bahia  presents  three  natural  regions,  which  are 

*  Mr.  Allen  says  :  "  This  name  is  always  -written  by  the  inhabitants  of  the 
village  as  above ;  never,  so  far  as  I  observed,  Xique-Xique.  The  place  takes 
its  name  from  the  abundance  of  a  low  branching  form  of  Cereus,  called  by  this 
name  that  grows  here."  Burton  uses  Chique-Chique  for  the  town  and  Xique- 
Xique  for  the  cactus  ;  a  distinction,  it  seems  to  me,  without  a  difference,  since 
both  are  pronounced  alike.  The  vicinity  of  Chique-Chique  appears  to  be  a 
perfect  paradise  of  cactuses.  The  name  is  applied  to  several  species  of  the 
plant.  See  Burton,  Highlands  of  Brazil,  Chap.  XXII. 


310 


GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 


LEVEL 
CACHOZIFSA 


plateaus,  differing  widely  from  each  other  in  geo 
logical  and  other  characteristics.  The  first  or  west 
ern  extends  from  the  river  above  named  to  the 
vicinity  of  Jacobina,  a  distance  of  rather  more 
than  two  hundred  miles.  It  is  a  vast  limestone 
plain  rising  almost  imperceptibly  from  the  level 
of  the  Sao  Francisco  River  to  the  summit  of  the 
divide  which  separates  the  waters  flowing  west 
ward  and  northward  into  this  noble  stream  from 
those  that  reach  the  sea  by  other  channels.  Here 
and  there  large  exposures  of  the  underlying  rock 
occur,  commonly  scarcely  rising  above  the  general 
level,  but  occasionally  forming  irregular,  pinnacled 
hummocks  or  low  serras.*  The  first  so-called 
"  serra "  met  with  occurred  at  Sta.  Euzebia ; 
thence  eastward  they  were  frequent.  At  Sta. 
Euzebia  these  elevations  rarely  attained  a  height 
of  fifty  to  one  hundred  feet,  above  the  general 
level  of  the  country  ;  farther  east,  and  particularly 
in  the  Volta  da  Serra,  they  rise  much  higher  than 
this,  and  in  some  cases  probably  reach  an  altitude 
of  nearly  a  thousand  feet  above  the  plain.  The 
limestone  for  many  leagues  to  the  eastward  of 
Sta.  Euzebia  is  very  compact,  dark  blue,  and  dis 
tinctly  stratified,  resembling  lithologically  some 
that  I  had  previously  seen  on  the  lower  portion 
of  the  Rio  das  Velhas  and  at  Lagoa  Santa,  as  also 


*  Burton  says  that  the  limestone  at  Chique-Chique  is 
largely  quarried  for  burning,  and  he  suggests  that  it  would 
make  a  good  hydraulic  cement.  According  to  him,  "  Chique- 
Chique  annually  sends  up  and  down  stream  between  the 
Villa  da  Barra  and  Joazeiro  fifteen  hundred  to  two  thousand 
alqueires."  Mr.  Allen  remarks  that  "  the  weathering  of  the 

limestone  often  leaves  the  surface  studded  with  acicular  or  small  attenuated 

points." 


PROVINCE   OF   BAHIA, — INTERIOR.  311 

on  the  Sao  Francisco  at  Urubu.  Further  eastward  this  stratified 
variety  passed  into  an  earthy,  light-colored,  unstratified  kind, 
which  was  frequently  greatly  decomposed  at  the  surface,  becoming 
soft,  white,  and  chalky  sometimes  to  the  depth  of  several  feet.* 
This  gave  to  the  distant,  nearly  verdureless  hills  in  many  places 
the  appearance  of  being  covered  with  snow.  Bands  of  the  strati 
fied  rock,  which  was  sometimes  quite  shaly,  alternated  with  those 
that  were  unstratified  ;  in  some  instances  the  passage  of  the  one 
into  the  other  was  easily  traced.  The  strike  of  the  limestone 
strata  varied  from  E.  and  W.  in  the  western  part  of  the  plateau 
to  W.  N.  W.  and  E.  S.  E.  f  in  the  eastern.  The  dip  was  at  first 
nearly  vertical  or  somewhat  to  the  southward,  but  afterwards  an 
inclination  to  the  northward  was  observed.  Large  caverns  were 
reported  to  be  of  frequent  occurrence  throughout  this  limestone 
district,  from  some  of  which,  I  was  told,  very  large  bones  had 
been  taken.  Many  of  the  caverns  are  doubtless  very  rich  in 
palseontological  treasures,  but  want  of  time  and  other  circum 
stances  would  not  allow  me  to  visit  them,  though  I  greatly  desired 
to  do  so.  The  extent  northwards  of  the  limestone  I  had  no  means 
of  determining.  Its  southern  limit  I  once  saw  at  a  locality  known 
as  Olhos  d'Agua,  about  seventy-five  miles  west  of  Jacobina.  At 
this  point  we  turned  southward  a  few  miles  from  our  usual  course 
to  visit  a  spring  of  water,  and  found  an  extensive  exposure  of  a  com 
pact  quartzose  sandstone,  which  was  horizontally  stratified  and  over 
laid  the  limestone  unconformably,  the  dip  of  the  latter  beneath  it 
being  at  a  considerable  angle.  The  sandstone  here  stretched  away 
to  the  southward  for  miles  like  a  vast  level  floor,  its  surface  cov 
ered  only  with  detached  angular  blocks  of  the  same  rock,  and  sup 
porting  a  few  cacti.  A  distant  low,  even  serra  seen  in  the  same 

*  Von  Martins  thought  that  this  chalky  crust  resulted  from  the  burning  over 
of  the  surface;  but  the  heat  would  not  be  great  enough  to  produce  such  an 
effect. 

t  This  strike  is  very  remarkable,  for  it  usually  varies  in  Brazil  from  N.  N.  E. 
to  E.  N.  E.  —  C.  F.  H. 


312  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

direction,  and  called  Serra  das  Pedras  d'Agua,  was  doubtless  of  the 
same  formation.  At  Jacobina  a  similar  horizontal  sandstone  was 
observed,  which  gave  rise  to  a  beautiful  level  grassy  plain,  called 
the  Taboleira  de  Jacobiua,  and  which  occupied  the  summit  of  the 
water-shed. 

Near  the  Volta  da  Serra  two  large  hills  of  hornstone,  or  chert 
("pedra  de  fogo "  of  the  Brazilians),  were  crossed  in  the  few 
leagues  intervening  between  this  considerable  serra  and  the  Jaco 
bina  taboleira.  One  of  them  attained  the  estimated  height  of 
several  hundred  feet  and  was  several  miles  across,  while  the  other 
was  about  half  these  dimensions. 

In  respect  to  the  relative  age  of  the  limestone  of  the  western 
plateau  I  obtained  but  few  data.  It  must,  however,  be  much 
older  than  the  sandstones  already  referred  to.  The  compact 
stratified  portion  has  a  very  striking  lithological  resemblance,  as 
previously  observed,  to  limestones  seen  on  the  lower  part  of  the 
Rio  das  Velhas,  which  rested  conformably  upon  very  old  clay 
slates.  No  fossils  were  seen  in  it,  but  nodular  concretions  were 
frequent  at  a  few  places.  The  Taboleiro  de  Jacobina  is  the  most 
elevated  part  of  the  region  under  consideration.  On  several  sides 
the  country  slopes  gradually,  but  to  the  eastward  the  descent  to 
the  Jacobina  valley  is  abrupt,  through  a  narrow  precipitous  defile, 
called  the  "  Tombador  "  (literally  the  "  tumble  down  ").  The  con 
trast  of  the  scenery  here  with  that  of  the  taboleiro,  which  the 
traveller  may  have  left  but  an  hour  or  two  before,  is  very  great. 
Almost  vertical  walls  of  rock,  nearly  a  thousand  feet  in  height, 
quite  surround  the  head  of  the  valley,  while  lower  down  are  iso 
lated,  dome-shaped  peaks  within  these  enclosing  walls.* 

These  peaks  are  composed  of  compact  gneiss,  though  a  few  of 
the  smaller  appear  granitic,  but  the  upper  portion  of  the  walls  is 
quartzose  sandstone.  The  valley  seems  to  have  been  formed  by 
a  rent  in  the  sandstone,  which  was  subsequently  eroded  to  its 

*  This  scenery  must  bear  the  closest  resemblance  to  that  of  parts  of  the 
Arassuahy-Calhao  valley.  —  C.  F.  II. 


PROVINCE   OF   BAHIA,  —  INTERIOR. 


313 


present  size  and  form.  From  the  village  of  Jacobina  the  level 
summits  of  the  distant  valley  walls  to  the  westward  are  conspic 
uous  features  in  the  landscape. 

Leaving  Jacobina  and  winding  among  the  hills  for  a  few  leagues 
we  soon  enter  upon  the  second  or  middle  plateaii,  which  extends 
thence  eastward  to  the  Serra  da  Terra  Dura,  a  point  midway  be 
tween  Jacobina  and  Cachoeira,  at  the  head  of  Bahia  Bay.  Through 
out  this  distance  of  nearly  two  hundred  miles  I  found  generally 
only  different  varieties  of  gneiss,  usually  very  compact,  and  some 
times  so  granitic  in  structure  as  only  here  and  there  to  present 
well-defined  stratification.  At  one  or  two  points  hornblende  rock 
was  noticed,  of  which  there  was  a  considerable  exposure  on  the 
Riacho  de  Jacuhipe,  near  the  arraial  of  that  name.  The  dip  was 
always  eastward,  and  usually  very  great ;  the  strike  varied  some 
what  at  different  localities.  From  Jacobina  nearly  to  the  Serra 
da  Terra  Dura  it  was  generally  N.  N.  W.  and  S.  S.  E. ;  sometimes 
N.  W.  and  S.  E.,  and  at  one  or  two  points  N.  and  S.  East  of  the 
Arraial  do  Riacho  de  Jacuhipe  it  was  nearly  E.  and  W.,  as  in  the 
Morro  da  Lagoa  do  Boi  and  Morro  do  Curral  Velho,  which  have 
this  trend.  In  the  Serra  da  Terra  Dura,  but  a  few  miles  further 

VOL.    I.  14 


314  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

east,  it  varied  at  different  points  from  N.  N.  E.  and  S.  S.  W.  to 
N.  N.  W.  and  S.  S.  E.,  averaging  about  N.  and  S. 

Over  this  whole  region  there  is  an  almost  entire  absence  of 
loose  materials  on  the  surface.  Vast  exposures  of  nearly  bare 
rock,  sometimes  of  acres  in  extent,  occur  almost  constantly,  and 
nowhere  is  there  more  than  a  very  thin  stratum  of  soil.  Slight 
knolls  and  shallow  basins  alternate,  which  rarely  differ  more  than 
twenty  or  thirty  feet  in  elevation.*  In  the  rainy  season  many  of 
these  basins  become  filled  with  water,  forming  shallow  lagoas, 
varying  in  area  from  less  than  one  to  more  than  fifty  acres,  from 
the  most  of  which  the  water  evaporates  in  the  dry  season.  They 
are  filled  with  rank  aquatic  vegetation,  the  dead  parts  of  which, 
accumulating  year  by  year,  already  form  large  deposits  of  partially 
decomposed  vegetable  matter.  So  numerous  were  these  lagoas  for 
more  than  fifty  miles  that  it  seemed  natural  to  speak  of  this 
region  in  my  notes  as  the  "  Lake  Plain."  Almost  everywhere  the 
elevations  are  evenly  rounded,  indicating  that  the  rocky  crust  has 
been  exposed  to  severe  and  probably  long-continued  abrasion. 
But  the  absence  of  abraded  materials  seemed  most  remarkable. 
Very  rarely  were  even  loose  boulders  observed,  though  a  few  such 
were  repeatedly  noticed.  At  frequent  intervals  there  were  singu 
lar  holes  in  the  rocks,  usually  nearly  filled  with  water,  to  which  the 
inhabitants  give  the  name  of  "  caldeiraos."  t  These  "  caldeiraos" 
are  of  frequent  occurrence,  but  I  was  unable  to  learn  whether  all 

*  The  country  just  below  the  falls  of  Paulo  Affonso,  at  Piranhas,  for  in 
stance,  though  composed  of  gneiss,  is  worn  down  in  the  same  way  almost  to 
a  plain  ;  but  while  it  agrees  with  Mr.  Allen's  "  lake  plain  "  in  the  thinness  of 
the  soil,  the  part  I  saw  was  abundantly  strewn  with  loose  rocks.  See  reference 
to  Piranhas,  in  index. 

t  The  term  caldeirao  has  the  same  derivation  as  our  English  word  caldron 
(chaudicre),  and  it  has  the  same  signification.  It  is  applied  to  true  pot-holes, 
but  sometimes  to  rock  basins  in  which  water  collects ;  but  these  last  are  more 
frequently  called  po$os,  and  when  excavated  they  form  tanqites.  Mammalian 
bones  (Mastodon,  &c.)  are  not  infrequently  found  in  the  caldeiraos  of  the  lake 
plain.  —  C.  F.  H. 


PROVINCE   OF   BAHIA,  —  INTERIOR.  315 

were  of  a  similar  character.  Nearly  all  of  the  considerable  number 
examined  proved  to  be  genuine  pot-holes,  and  some  of  them  were 
of  great  size.  The  largest  one  I  measured  was  elliptical  in  outline, 
eighteen  feet  long,  nine  or  ten  in  width,  and  twenty -seven  deep, 
with  smoothly  worn  sides.  Beneath  the  water  that  partially  filled 
it  there  must  have  been  many  feet  of  materials  that  for  ages  have 
been  falling  into  it,  so  that  its  whole  depth  must  be  much  greater 
than  my  measurements  indicate.*  Near  tho  Serra  da  Terra  Dura 
the  country  becomes  somewhat  diversified  by  the  presence  of  ab 
ruptly  rising  points  or  knobs  that  at  intervals  dot  its  surface,  as 


*  Mr.  Allen  tells  me  that  these  pot-holes  often  occur  out  on  the  plain,  far 
away  from  any  high  land,  and  that  they  are  sometimes  found  excavated  in 
the  summits  of  slight  bulgings  in  the  plain,  or  even  on  the  top  of  a  hill,  as 
in  the  case  of  the  Morro  do  Caldeirao.  These  holes  must  have  been  exca 
vated  by  falling  water.  There  is  only  one  suggestion  that  I  can  make  as  to 
their  origin,  and  that  is  that  they  were  formed  by  glacial  waterfalls,  in  the 
same  way  as  the  pot-holes  found  over  the  glaciated  regions  of  North  America, 
as,  for  instance,  in  New  Brunswick  and  Nova  Scotia,  where  I  have  had  an 
opportunity  of  examining  them.  It  is  well  known  that  glacial  waterfalls, 
notwithstanding  the  constant  movement  of  the  ice,  are  very  often  stationary, 
and  in  the  Alps  they  hollow  out  enormous  pot-holes  in  the  rocks.  The  lake 
plain  is  noted  for  the  small  amount  of  decomposition  which  has  taken  place 
over  it,  owing,  I  believe,  largely  to  the  fact  that  it  has  never  been  covered  bv 
the  virgin  forest,  having  always  been  dry.  —  C.  F.  H. 


316  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

illustrated  in  the  accompanying  sketch,  taken  from  an  eminence 
known  as  the  Morro  do  Caldeirao-assu,  there  being  a  large  pot 
hole  near  its  summit.  This  elevation  reached  the  height  of  about 
one  hundred  feet,  and  was  the  most  considerable  elevation  crossed 
in  this  part  of  the  journey.  It  overlooked  the  plain  for  many 
miles  in  every  direction,  and  the  knobs  rising  from  it  looked  not 
unlike  small  rocky  islands  in  the  sea.  Those  examined  were  com 
posed  chiefly  of  quartz,  the  great  hardness  of  which  may  have  pre 
vented  their  being  so  much  abraded  as  the  softer  strata  enclosing 
them.  At  its  eastern  border  the  middle  plateau  becomes  more 
broken,  and  merges  gradually  into  the  Serra  da  Terra  Dura. 
These  hills  are  all  composed  of  gneiss,  varying  somewhat  in  char 
acter,  but  generally  very  hard  and  compact,  with  a  rather  small 
amount  of  mica.  The  average  trend  of  the  strata  has  already 
been  given. 

From  the  Serra  da  Terra  Dura  a  considerable  descent  is  made 
in  reaching  the  third,  eastern,  or  coast  plateau.  This  is  char 
acterized,  so  far  as  observed  by  myself,  by  the  general  absence  of 
rock  exposures,  and  a  deep  sxiperficial  deposit  of  compact  sand, 
probably  detritus  from  the  naked  abraded  plains  to  the  westward. 
Its  extent  and  general  features  are  too  well  known  to  require 
a  detailed  description  here.* 

The  three  plateaus  described  above  are  separated  from  each 
other  by  low  mountain  chains  and  belts  of  broken  country.  The 
sandstone  serra  of  the  Tombador  and  the  gneiss  range  of  Jaco- 
bina  divide  the  western  from  the  middle  one,  while  the  Serra  da 
Terra  Dura  separates  the  latter  from  the  eastern.  In  some 
respects  these  several  districts  are  somewhat  alike,  but  geologically 
they  widely  differ.  The  first,  as  previously  observed,  is  a  vast 
limestone  plain,  two  hundred  miles  in  extent,  rising  gradually  to 

*  This  plain,  which  Mr.  Allen  has  represented  on  his  profile,  he  describes  as 
continuing  down  to  Cachoeira,  and  it  is  undoubtedly  composed  of  the  tertiary 
sandstones  which  extend  over  so  large  an  area  at  the  head  of  the  bay  of  Todos 
os  Santos.  —  C.  F.  H. 


PROVINCE   OF  BAHIA,  —  INTERIOR.  317 

the  eastward ;  the  second,  of  equal  breadth,  is  gneissose,  and 
apparently  everywhere  of  nearly  uniform  altitude;  the  third  is 
narrower,  somewhat  lower,  and  sandy.  The  whole  region  be 
tween  the  Sao  Francisco  and  the  sea  is  covered  usually  with  a  low 
forest,  or  catinga,  except  a  narrow  belt  along  the  coast,  where 
a  moister  atmosphere  cherishes  a  more  luxuriant  growth.  The 
country  everywhere  wears  a  barren  aspect,  the  vegetation  is 
dwarfed  and  scanty  and  the  aridity  of  the  climate  is  excessive. 
The  greatest  aridity  and  the  highest  temperature  obtain  in  the 
limestone  district,  where  for  nine  months  of  the  year  little  or 
no  rain  falls  and  all  the  herbaceous  vegetation  annually  withers. 
Cacti  in  great  variety,  including  some  of  gigantic  proportions,  with 
various  species  of  bromeliacese,  are  leading  forms  in  the  vegeta 
tion.  With  the  exception  of  a  few  species,  the  trees  are  leafless 
throughout  the  long  dry  season,  and  the  streams  either  become 
dry  or  form  mere  chains  of  brackish  pools.  The  convolvuli  and 
other  vines  that  overrun  the  catinga,  though  dead  at  the  time  of 
my  journey,  indicate  an  excessive  luxuriance  of  foliage  and  flowers 
during  the  short  rainy  period. 

The  middle  or  gneiss  district  differs  but  little  in  its  climate  and 
vegetation  from  the  preceding  ;  it  is,  however,  less  arid,  and  cacti 
are  proportionately  less  frequent,  though  still  a  leading  feature  of 
the  vegetation.  The  eastern  or  sandy  plateau  is  also  quite  arid  in 
its  western  part,  but  gradually  becomes  moister  towards  the  sea, 
where  the  vegetation  exhibits  the  ordinary  luxuriance  character 
istic  of  the  Brazilian  coast.  In  the  vicinity  of  Jacobina,  however, 
where  the  great  altitude  of  the  land  arrests  the  currents  of  damp 
air  from  the  sea  and  condenses  their  moisture,  mists  and  light 
rain-falls  occur  at  frequent  intervals  throughout  the  year,  and  the 
forests  are  not  only  of  larger  size,  but  their  verdure  is  perennial. 
In  the  Serra  da  Terra  Dura  a  nobler  forest  growth  is  also  seen, 
resulting  from  causes  similar  to  those  existing  at  Jacobina. 

The  population  of  the  middle  and  western  plateaus  is  extremely 
sparse.  The  settlements  consist  of  but  a  few  families  each,  and 


318  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

occur  only  at  long  intervals.  Nothing  approaching  the  character 
of  a  village  is  met  with  between  the  Sao  Francisco  and  Jacobina. 
The  middle  district  is  more  thickly  settled,  little  hamlets  being 
more  or  less  frequent,  and  there  are  a  few  small  villages.  The 
eastern  is  comparatively  well  settled  and  largely  under  cultivation  ; 
towards  the  coast  the  soil  is  very  productive. 

A  journey  across  the  limestone  plain  is  always  tedious  and 
difficult.  Extra  animals  must  be  taken  to  transport  food  for  both 
men  and  beasts,  and  in  the  dry  season  water  must  in  like  manner 
be  provided  for  use  in  crossing  the  long  stretches  where  none  can 
be  obtained.  During  the  rainy  season  the  swollen  streams  and 
noxious  exhalations  from  the  temporary  pools  render  the  journey 
equally  troublesome  and  far  more  dangerous. 

The  topography  of  the  arid,  gneiss  country  of  the  interior 
of  Bahia,  Sergipe  and  AlagGas,  with  its  great  plains  and 
bare  surface,  is  in  striking  contrast  with  that  of  the  forest- 
clothed  gneiss  region  of  the  coast  of  these  provinces  and  of 
those  to  the  south,  where  the  surface  of  the  gneiss  never 
forms  plains,  but  is  always  hilly  and  ridgy,  and  covered  by 
a  thick  bed  of  drift-clay.  This  difference  in  topographical 
features  has  resulted,  at  least  in  so  far  as  the  last  surface- 
moulding  is  concerned,  from  the  different  climatic  influences 
to  which  these  provinces  have  been  subjected.  Over  both 
of  these  parts  of  the  country  an  extraordinary  amount  of 
erosion  has  taken  place.  One  might  at  first  be  inclined 
to  consider  that  the  amount  of  denudation  had  been  greater 
over  the  gneiss  plains  than  in  the  hill-roughened  basin  of  the 
Mucury,  since  on  the  former  the  upturned  gneiss  strata  are 
planed  down  to  a  more  even  level ;  but  it  seems  to  me  that 
this  feature  furnishes  no  criterion.  The  peculiar  topography 
of  the  wooded  gneiss  region  is  owing  to  the  prevalence  of  a 
very  moist  climate,  giving  rise  to  numerous  streams,  which 


PROVINCE   OF   BAHIA,  —  INTERIOR.  319 

have  furrowed  the  surface  with  an  intricate  system  of  water 
courses,  such  as  we  do  not  find  over  the  gneiss  plains  of  the 
north,  for  the  grand  physical  features  of  the  northern  coun 
try  in  question  are  such  as  produce  a  dry  climate,  and  pre 
clude  the  possibility  of  that  unequal  erosion  such  as  is  pro 
duced  by  the  flow  of  surface  waters  fed  by  heavy  periodical 
or  constant  rains.  Decomposition  must  have  played  its  part 
before  the  drift  as  well  as  afterward,  for  else  how  could 
those  feldspathic  sandy  clays  of  the  tertiary,  spread  over 
the  coast  plains  and  the  great  Amazonian  valley,  have  been 
formed  ?  I  cannot  resist  the  conclusion  that  the  present 
forest  belt  was  wooded  before  the  drift,  and  that  this  forest 
and  its  attendant  peculiarities  of  climate,  were  the  causes  of 
decomposition  as  at  present,  which  decomposition  has  aided 
immensely  in  rounding  down  the  hills  and  producing  topo 
graphical  features  which  received  their  finishing  touches 
from  the  glaciers. 

In  the  interior  of  Bahia,  behind  the  arid  region,  where,  as 
in  the  Chapada,  or  the  Serra  de  Tiuba,  the  country  throws 
up  barriers  to  the  air-drift  and  causes  the  condensation  of 
moisture,  we  find  a  different  kind  of  topography,  and  the 
surface  is  deeply  furrowed.  There  are  forests,  and  decom 
position  has  taken  place  to  a  greater  or  less  extent. 

The  limits  of  the  forests,  of  the  belt  of  decomposition, 
and  of  the  area  over  which  copious  rains  fall,  coincide  very 
remarkably,  and  show  a  dependence  upon  each  other,  but 
the  forest  belt  has  a  smaller  area  than  that  of  decomposition 
or  of  the  rains.  The  wooded  belt  seems  to  have  narrowed 
greatly  within  comparatively  recent  times,  losing  its  foot 
hold  in  the  west,  where  immense  regions,  now  campos,  over 
which  the  climate  and  soil  would  normally  be  proper  for  the 
growth  of  forests,  have  dried  up,  the  climate  has  become 


320  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL    GEOGRAPHY. 

hot,  less  rain  now  falls,  and  the  forest  cannot  regain  its  lost 
place.  Doubtless  there  are  many  natural  physical  causes  to 
be  taken  into  consideration  in  studying  the  distribution  of 
the  forest,  catinga,  and  campos  florae;  but  there  is  one 
agency  which  has  been  at  work  in  Brazil,  whose  effects  we 
can  hardly  overestimate,  and  that  is  the  burning  over  of 
wood  and  campos  lands  by  man.*  The  very  physical  fea 
tures  of  the  highlands  of  Brazil  determine  a  difference  of 
luxuriance  in  the  florae  of  different  regions,  and  there  are, 
as  I  have  already  shown,  regions  where  for  ages  the  climate 
has  been  such  that  forests  could  scarcely  have  had  any 
noteworthy  extension,  so  that  there  must  have  always  been 
in  Brazil,  naturally,  virgin  forests,  catingas,  campos,  and 
barrens.  On  the  coast,  where  the  forest  is  dense  and  moist, 
and  the  climate  is  wet,  forest  fires  are  next  to  impossible, 
and  one  never  sees  a  scorched  and  dead  wood,  such  as  cov 
ers  so  large  an  area  in  the  province  of  New  Brunswick,  for 
instance.  But  in  the  interior,  where  the  catinga  forests 
drop  their  leaves,  and  are  as  dead  for  several  months  in  the 
dry  season,  fires  are  easily  kindled  and  the  wood  killed  ;  and 
fires  set  in  open  fields  or  campos,  for  the  purpose  of  pro 
ducing  a  new  crop  of  grass,  may  spread  to  the  neighboring 
catingas.  It  is  the  opinion  of  many  writers  that  a  large 
part  of  the  catinga  and  campos  region  of  the  Brazilian  high 
lands  was  once  covered  by  forests,  and  that  their  present 
bare  appearance  and  the  character  of  their  florae  is  in  very 
great  measure  due  to  frequent  and  extensive  burning  over 
of  the  country.  Every  year  the  Brazilian  campos  lands  are 
systematically  and  almost  entirely  burned  over,  for  the  pur 
pose  of  producing  a  new  crop  of  grass.  This  burning  of 

*  For  a  very  interesting  article  on  the  effect  of  the  burning  over  of  the 
campos,  see  Tidsskriftfnr  Pop.  Frem.  of  Naturvid., —  Camposflaraen  og  Campos- 
brandene,  by  Eug.  Warming. 


PROVINCE   OF   BAHIA,  —  INTERIOR.  321 

course  has  destroyed  all  those  trees  and  shrubs  and  plants 
of  all  kinds  that  cannot  bear  the  scorching,  and  has  wrought 
a  great  alteration  in  the  character  of  the  whole  flora  of  the 
region  ;  the  climate  also  has  suffered  a  change,  for  with  the 
destruction  of  the  woods  and  forests  it  becomes  hotter,  the 
unprotected  earth  is  like  a  furnace,  streams  run  dry  a  few 
days  after  a  shower,  and  the  springs  disappear.  The  whole 
sale  and  careless  destruction  of  the  forests  on  the  Brazilian 
coast,  unless  put  a  stop  to,  will  in  the  end  work  a  sure 
ruin  to  the  country.  Brazil  owes  her  climate  and  fitness 
for  agricultural  purposes  to  her  forests,  and  it  is  absolutely 
necessary  that  they  should  be  preserved  over  a  very  large 
part  of  the  country,  especially  on  the  coast.  The  climate 
of  the  Bahia  has  already  suffered  from  the  destruction  of 
the  forests  of  the  Reconcavo,  and  the  burning  over  of  the 
plains.  But  I  fear  that  Brazil  will  learn  this  fact  only 
when  it  is  too  late. 

This  whole  subject  of  the  former  wooding  of  the  Brazilian 
campos  is  the  same  as  that  relating  to  the  North  American 
prairies,  which  many  suppose  to  have  once  been  wooded. 
Dana  has  shown  that  the  existence  of  forests  depends  upon 
moisture,  and  any  climatic  change  which  may  lessen  the 
amount  of  moisture  over  a  region  may  cause  the  thinning 
out  and  final  disappearance  of  its  forest ;  and  it  is  more  than 
probable  that  some  such  influence,  beside  that  of  forest  clear 
ing  and  burning,  has  been  at  work  in  Brazil. 

Taking  the  Estrada  de  Capoeirassu  on  their  journey  from 
Cachoeira  to  Joazeiro,  Spix  and  Martius  ascended  the  steep 
slope  of  the  same  name  as  the  road  to  a  height  of  about 
seven  hundred  feet,  when  they  reached  the  top  of  the  dry 
plateau. 

14*  TT 


322  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

The  rock  in  the  vicinity  of  Cachoeira  is  gneiss,  reddish  or 
yellowish  in  color,  with  a  N.  —  S.  or  N.  E.  —  S.  W.  strike 
and  westerly  dip.  In  some  parts  specular  and  magnetic 
iron  were  observed  to  take  the  place  of  mica  in  the  rock. 

Two  leagues  from  Cachoeira  the  country  becomes  barren 
and  uninhabited.  Here  is  a  little  place  called  Feira  de 
Concei^-ao.  "  The  plain,  as  a  general  thing  elevated  from 
six  to  seven  hundred  feet  above  the  sea,  forms  here  and 
there  shallow  hollows,  in  which  during  the  rainy  season 
brackish  water,  often  unfit  for  the  use  of  cattle,  collects. 
In  other  places  one  sees  in  several  directions  rows  of  hills 
with  gently  sloping  sides.  The  only  rock  we  found  was 
gneiss,  gneiss  granite,  or  granular  granite,  for  the  most 
part  of  a  reddish  or  yellowish  color,  though  sometimes  also 
blackish  or  white.  This  rock  lies  entirely  bare  over  a  large 
extent  of  surface,  or  is  covered  by  a  thin  coat  of  a  heavy 
red  clay,  which  appears  to  originate  from  the  decomposition 
of  the  same  rock.  Besides  this,  fragments  of  granite  and 
fine  granite  lie  scattered  about.  In  the  low  lying  and  wet 
places  one  finds  little  woods  very  much  like  the  capoes  of 
Minas  Geraes ;  the  higher  plains  and  the  hills  are  in  some 
cases  bare  of  all  vegetation,  in  others  clothed  with  single 
cactus  stems  and  plants  or  with  thick  bushes  and  low  trees. 
All  these  plants  belong  to  the  catinga  group,  for  they  shed 
their  leaves  in  the  dry  season,  and  for  the  greater  part  clothe 
themselves  only  on  the  entrance  of  the  rainy  season.  Only 
in  the  low  wet  places  do  the  leaves  remain  on  during  the 

whole  year The  wood  is  never  wholly  without  sap 

during  the  leafless  season." 

The  trees  leaf  out  with  marvellous  rapidity,  and  a  short 
rain  suffices  in  two  or  three  days  to  clothe  a  wood  with 
spring-like  verdure.  Yon  Martius  speaks  of  the  roots  of  the 


PROVINCE   OF  BAHIA,  —  INTERIOR.  323 

Imbuzeiro  (Spondias  tuberosa  Arr.)  which  extend  under 
ground  near  the  surface,  and  are  full  of  swellings  as  large 
even  as  a  child's  head,  hollow  and  full  of  water,  —  a  pro 
vision  against  the  drought.  During  the  dry  season  these 
hot  plains  are  almost  destitute  of  life.  The  same  kind  of 
country  extends  on  to  the  Rio  do  Peixe,  and  during  the  dry 
season  it  is  almost  wholly  without  water.  When  Spix  and 
Martius  reached  the  Rio  do  Peixe,  they  found  it  only  a 
string  of  brackish-water  pools. 

Crossing  the  Rio  do  Peixe  our  travellers  passed  over  a 
range  called  the  Serra  do  Rio  do  Peixe,  which  is  described 
as  being  composed  of  gneiss  and  granite,  and  strewn  with 
gigantic  and  isolated  blocks  of  gneiss.  In  some  places  horn 
blende  rock  was  observed. 

The  Rio  Itapicuru  was,  like  the  Rio  do  Peixe,  dried  up, 
forming  only  a  string  of  pools.  Over  all  this  region  this  is 
the  state  of  the  streams  during  the  dry  season  ;  but  a  week's 
rain  fills  their  dry  beds  and  converts  them  into  torrents, 
which  if  the  rain  does  not  continue,  soon  become  dry  again, 
for  the  surface  water  runs  speedily  off  from  the  bare  rocks 
and  exceedingly  scanty  soil.  Such  a  country  is  of  course 
barren  and  unfit  for  culture.  Rain  falls  abundantly  enough 
on  the  sea-coast,  but  the  air  soon  parts  with  its  moisture,  or 
becomes  so  heated  that  but  little  or  none  is  condensed  in  the 
interior.  The  Arraial  das  Queimadas  lies  only  about  one 
hundred  and  thirty  miles  from  Bahia.  But  very  little  rain 
falls  there,  and  Von  Martius  relates  that  the  inhabitants 
assured  him  that  in  some  parts  in  their  vicinity  it  had  not 
rained  for  three  years.  A  little  cotton  and  maize  are  culti 
vated  there.  One  league  N.  W.  from  this  place  red  gneiss 
was  found,  strike  N.  N.  E.  At  Bebedor,  one  league  farther, 
white  granite,  with  a  N.  W. -S.  E.  strike,  was  seen.  Ap- 


324  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGEAPHY. 

preaching  the  Serra  de  Tiuba  light  green  pistacite  became 
more  and  more  abundant  in  the  granite,  at  first  in  grains, 
taking  the  place  of  mica,  afterwards  in  bands  through  the 
rock.  Thin  layers  of  a  slate-like  hornblende-stone  were 
also  observed  in  the  rock. 

The  Serra  de  Tiuba,  where  our  travellers  passed  it,  is 
about  twelve  hundred  feet  high  above  its  base,  and  is  com 
posed  of  reddish  granite  passing  into  sienite.  It  is  wooded 
to  its  summit,  probably  owing  to  the  condensation  of  the 
moisture  in  passing  over  the  serra,  producing  a  damper 
climate  ;  and  I  am  strengthened  in  this  opinion,  since  Von 
Martius  says  that  the  trees  increase  in  height  in  going  up 
the  serra. 

West  of  the  serra  a  more  level  country  succeeds,  and  con 
tinues  to  Villa  Nova  da  Rainha,  southwest  and  north  of 
which  are  mountains  which  show  in  their  valleys  high 
catinga  woods  and  a  comparatively  thick  covering  of  fer 
tile  soil.  From  Villa  Nova  Spix  and  Martius  made  a  rapid 
journey  to  Monte  Santo,  to  visit  the  great  meteorolite  of 
Bemdego. 

The  way  ascends  gradually,  with  occasional  patches  of 
catinga,  to  the  fazenda  called  Coche  d'Agua,  on  the  west 
side  of  the  Serra  de  Itauba.  The  hills  at  the  base  of  the 
mountains  are,  like  the  serra  itself,  of  gneiss-granite. 
"  The  rock  is  for  the  most  part  bare,  but  here  and  there 
a  thickness  of  from  four  to  five  feet  of  reddish  clay  lies  in 
the  shallow  hollows  which  the  Sertanejos  excavate  to  a 
depth  of  several  feet  in  order  to  make  tanks  for  the  keeping 
of  the  rain-water.  In  these  hollows  numerous  bones  of 
ancient  animals  are  found,  for  the  most  part  in  a  broken 
state,  and  so  scattered  that  one  hardly  dare  hope  to  find  a 
complete  skeleton.  The  bones  in  a  recognizable  condition 


PROVINCE   OF   BAHIA,  —  INTERIOR.  325 

which  we  had  the  opportunity  to  gather  are  the  under  jaw, 
a  vertebra,  ard  a  part  of  a  shoulder-blade  of  a  mastodon." 

At  the  fazenda  called  Barriga  Molle  similar  bones  were 
found,  and  at  Mundo  Novo  and  Pedra  Vermelha  Spix  and 
Martius  found  in  a  tanque  the  head  of  a  femur.  Other 
localities  for  these  fossil  remains  mentioned  by  Von  Martius 
are  the  Fazenda  de  Sao  Gonzalo  and  Caldeiroes,  and  at  the 
Fazenda  Canganc.ao,  near  the  Monte  Santo. 

Monte  Santo  is  an  isolated  hill  of  mica  slate  which  has  a 
N.  -  S.  strike.  The  height  of  the  mountain  is,  according  to 
a  barometrical  measurement,  about  seventeen  hundred  and 
sixty  feet  above  the  sea.  The  rock  is  said  to  contain  dis- 
thene.  In  the  vicinity  are  several  serras  characterized  by 
Von  Martius  as  resembling  one  another  in  their  "  round ed- 
off,  long-drawn-out  ridges,  without  steep  sides,  gaps,  or  rug 
ged  cliffs,"  the  whole  being  covered  with  catinga  vegetation. 

At  a  place  called  Bemdego,  near  Monte  Santo,  Spix  and 
Martius  examined  an  enormous  block  of  meteoric  iron,  al 
ready  visited  by  Mornay  *  in  1811,  and  Von  Martius  gives  a 
long  description  of  it  in  his  Reise,  to  which  the  reader  is 
referred.  It  was  discovered  in  the  year  1784  by  a  man  who 
was  searching  for  a  lost  cow.  Coining  under  the  notice  of 
the  Governor,  an  attempt  was  made  to  carry  it  off,  under 
the  impression  that  it  was  silver  ;  but  the  cart  broke  down, 
and  Spix  and  Martius  found  it  long  afterwards  lying  in  a 
brook  nearly  buried  with  sand.  They  give  the  greatest 
length  at  eighty  Paris  inches,  the  greatest  breadth  43^", 
and  the  greatest  height  34 ^".f  The  specific  weight  was 

*  Phil.  Transactions,  1816,  p.  270. 

t  Mornay,  loc.  cit.,  gives  its  dimensions  as  7  X  4  X  2  feet,  the  cubic  contents 
at  28  feet,  and  the  weight  of  the  whole  mass  at  14,000  pounds.  See  Dana's 
System  of  Mineralogy,  p.  16.  Mornay's  paper  is  accompanied  hy  a  plate, 
showing  the  shape  of  the  meteorite.  Von  Martius  also  figures  it  in  his  atlas. 


326  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

7.731.  They  estimated  the  weight  of  the  whole  block  at 
17,300  Paris  pounds.  Fragments  of  the  mass  were  cut  off 
and  carried  to  Europe,  where  they  were  examined  by 
Fickentscher.  Wollaston  had  already  made  a  chemical 
analysis  of  it.  The  latter  found  it  to  contain,  iron,  96.1 ; 
nickel,  3.9  ;  while  Fickentscher  obtained 

Iron  96.10 

Nickel  5.71 

pron       ^ 

I  Nickel     I 
Mixture  of     S  SiHcon    ?  .46 

v Carbon  )  gg  QJT 

The  prepared  surface  showed  the  Widmannstadtian  fig 
ures. 

In  the  vicinity  of  Bemdego  were  found  some  strange 
characters  painted  on  a  rock,  apparently  by  Indians,  and 
Von  Martius  gives  a  sketch  of  them  in  the  atlas  accom 
panying  his  work. 

Burton  *  gives  a  long  list  of  localities  in  Brazil  in  which 
inscriptions  occur  either  engraved  in  or  painted  upon 
stone,  and  he  figures  a  number  of  the  hieroglyphics  he 
observed  on  the  banks  of  the  Sao  Francisco,  a  short  distance 
above  the  rapids  of  Itaparica.  He  gives  also  copies  of  cer 
tain  other  glyphs,  observed  by  Mr.  C.  H.  Williams,  of  Ba- 
hia,  on  the  Rio  Panema,  one  of  the  influents  of  the  Lower 
Sao  Francisco.  Characters  of  this  sort,  which  his  Majesty 
the  Emperor  of  Brazil  has  supposed  to  be  the  work  of  ma 
roon  negroes  or  Quilombeiros,  but  which  Burton  refers  to 
the  Indians,  appear  to  be  very  common  in  numerous  locali 
ties  on  the  Lower  Sao  Francisco  and  in  the  northwestern 

*  Highlands  of  the  Brazil,  Vol.  II.  Chap.  XXVII. 


PROVINCE   OF   BAHIA,  —  INTERIOR.  327 

part  of  the  province  of  Baliia.*  Von  Martins  speaks  of  hav 
ing  found,  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  locality  he  de 
scribes,  fragments  of  Indian  pottery,  showing  that  there 
had  anciently  been  an  Indian  encampment  on  the  spot. 
He  afterward  found  rock  sculpturings  on  the  banks  of  the 
Japura. 

Near  the  Villa  Nova  da  Rainha  is  the  Serra  do  Gado 
Brabo,  which  is  described  as  a  granite  hill  covered  in  places 
with  a  layer  of  red  clay  affording  gold. 

From  Villa  Nova  towards  Joazeiro  the  road  leads  for  some 
six  leagues  through  catinga.  The  rock  for  the  whole  dis 
tance  appears  to  be  gneiss,  often  with  pistacite,  and  the 
country  is  quite  even.  Granite  blocks  lie  strewn  about  over 
the  surface,  with  loose  pieces  (Fundlinge)  of  verdegris-col- 
ored  quartz,  fibrolite,  schorl,  and  common  opal.f 

From  Joazeiro,  Spix  and  Martins  made  an  excursion  to 
the  Rio  de  Salitre  to  visit  a  locality  where  salt  was  extracted. 
This  river  flows  into  the  Sao  Francisco  from  the  south,  about 
a  league  to  the  west  of  Joazeiro.  According  to  Von  Martius, 
the  rock  in  the  vicinity  of  the  town  is  granite.  Going  west- 
southwest  towards  the  Rio  de  Salitre  this  rock  was  soon  left, 
and  whitish-yellow  dolomite  succeeded.  Burton  says  that 
at  its  mouth  the  Rio  de  Salitre  has  tall  banks,  white  with 

*  Mr.  Wallace,  in  his  Travels  on  the  Amazon  and  Rio  Negro,  describes  sim 
ilar  picture-writings  as  occurring  at  Monta  Alegre,  Scrpa,  at  several  localities 
on  the  Rio  Negro,  and  on  the  Uaupes. 

t  The  Bahia  and  Sao  Francisco  Railroad  is  to  terminate  at  Joazeiro.  Ac 
cording  to  the  survey  of  Vivian,  Joazeiro  is  set  down  as  936  feet  above 
the  sea.  Halfeld  gives  the  height  of  the  river  at  this  point  at  1383  palmas  (998 
feet). 

From  a  MS.  map,  furnished  me  by  Mr.  Nicolay,  showing  the  line  of  Vivian's 
survey,  I  take  the  following  heights  of  places  along  the  line  :  — 

Alagoinhas,  300  feet.  Agoa  Fria,  763  feet.  Coite',  1,145  feet.  Faz.  da  Sta. 
Luzia,  1,106  feet.  Queimadas,  888  feet.  Faz.  da  Arueira,  1,997  feet. 


328  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

the  finest  limestone.  Passing  the  limestone  band,  Yon  Mar- 
this  describes  a  band  of  finely  bedded  mica  slate  composed 
of  crystalline  quartz  grains  and  white  or  bright  brown  mica. 
A  clay  slate  of  a  dark  green  color,  highly  laminated,  and 
containing  crystals  of  magnetic  iron  ore  or  pale  flesh  red  or 
bluish,  with  chlorite,  occupies  a  large  area  along  the  river. 
This  rock  sometimes  passes  into  mica  slate. 

Associated  with  it  are  greenstone  and  gray  limestone, 
with  garnet,  and  folia  of  chlorite,  and  mica  slate.  At  the 
Fazenda  Aldea,  between  the  hills  of  the  last-named  forma 
tion  and  the  river,  Von  Martius  describes  a  flat  piece  of 
ground,  about  60,000  square  feet  in  area,  over  which  the 
soil  is  highly  impregnated  with  salt.  There  are  many  other 
similar  localities.  The  soil  is  alluvial,  and  deposited  by  the 
river.  It  is  ochre  yellow  in  color,  and  contains  more  or  less 
of  pebbles  and  vegetable  material.  After  a  rain  or  freshet 
has  covered  this  soil,  and  the  sun  has  dried  it,  an  efflorescence 
of  salt  appears  on  the  surface.  It  is  not  pure,  and  it  ap 
pears  to  contain  sulphate  of  lime,  chloride  of  lime,  chloride 
of  magnesia,  and  saltpetre. 

The  basin  of  the  Sao  Francisco,  from  the  Rio  Verde  north 
ward  to  the  Rio  de  Salitre,  is  extensively  covered  by  saline 
deposits,  and  some  of  the  streams,  as,  for  instance,  the  Rio 
Verde,*  a  river  navigable  for  some  distance  for  canoes,  are 
brackish.  Von  Martius  says  :  "  To  the  west  the  mountains 
withdraw  themselves  still  farther  from  the  stream,  and  the 
country  consists  of  a  uniform,  dry  plain,  grown  up  with  grass 
and  low  bushes.  Here  one  sees,  especially  in  the  low  places, 
and  particularly  after  rain,  white  crusts  of  salt  weather  out, 
and  the  places  where  it  makes  its  appearance  most  abundant- 

*  Burton  remarks  that  the  fish  seemed  to  be  attracted  in  swarms  by  the  brack 
ish  streams. 


PROVINCE   OF  BAHIA,  —  INTERIOR.  329 

ly  (lagoas,  salines)  are  the  salt-mines  of  the  inhabitants." 
These  mines  lie  sometimes  at  a  great  distance  from  the 
river.  The  salt  is  collected  by  scraping  up  the  crust  of 
salt  from  the  earth,  mixing  it  with  water  to  separate  the 
earthy  impurities,  and  then  allowing  the  salt  to  crystallize 
out  by  the  heat  of  the  sun. 

Burton  says  that  sometimes  the  liquor  is  "  strained  in 
bangues  (coppers  or  hides)  evaporated  over  the  fire  and  al 
lowed  to  crystallize."  Salt  made  in  this  way  must  of  course 
vary  very  much  in  quality,  and  there  is  every  gradation 
from  almost  pure  salt  to  a  useless  dirty  variety  bitter  with 
magnesian  salts.  The  origin  of  the  salt  of  the  Sao  Fran 
cisco  valley  is  unknown.  So  far  as  we  know,  no  deposits 
of  rock-salt  *  occur.  The  amount  of  salt  manufactured  on 
the  Sao  Francisco  is  insufficient  to  meet  the  demand,  and 
much  sea  salt  finds  its  way  overland  by  way  of  Joazeiro. 

Mr.  Allen  has  been  kind  enough  to  give  me  the  following 
note  on  the  salt  of  the  Sao  Francisco  valley. 

"  A  saline  efflorescence  occurs  at  innumerable  localities  in 
the  drier  portions  of  the  Brazilian  plateau,  as  in  other  arid 
districts,  but  chiefly  along  the  banks  of  the  streams.  At 
Jacard,  situated  about  midway  between  Chique-Chique  and 
Jacobina,  the  efflorescence  arising  in  the  dry  months  from 
the  annually  overflowed  banks  or  bottom  lands  of  the  Riacho 
do  Jacar4  is  scraped  up  at  intervals,  of  course  with  more  or 
less  earth,  and  the  whole  leached.  The  lye  thus  obtained 
is  placed  in  small  troughs  to  be  evaporated  by  the  sun,  by 
which  means  a  small  quantity  of  impure  common  salt  is  ob- 

*  According  to  the  Engineer  Nesbitt,  rock-salt  occurs  below  Chasuta,  on  the 
Rio  Huallaga,  one  of  the  great  tributaries  of  the  Amazonas,  and  he  says  that 
the  banks  of  the  river  for  more  than  a  league  are  pure  rock-salt!  (Brazil  and 
Brazilians,  p.  578.) 


330  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

tained.  At  times  the  amount  of  other  accompanying  saline 
compounds,  as  sulphate  of  magnesia,  &c.,  is  so  great  as  to 
render  it  quite  unfit  for  use.  Though  the  river  bottoms,  or 
the  overflowed  portions  of  their  valleys,  aiford  the  principal 
sources  of  native  salt,  the  borders  of  the  half-dried  lagoons 
not  unfrequently  abound  with  a  similar  efflorescence.  Such 
salt  licks  occur  as  far  south  at  least  as  Januaria,  where 
they  are  numerous.  From  this  fact  the  city  is  more  com 
monly  known  in  the  neighborhood  as  Salgado  than  by  the 
name  of  Januaria. 

"  The  banks  of  the  lower  portion  of  the  Rio  das  Yelhas 
are  also  remarkable  for  a  similar  thick  incrustation  of  what 
appeared  to  be  nearly  pure  sulphate  of  magnesia.  This 
incrustation  is  often  of  considerable  thickness,  appearing 
not  unlike  thick  hoar-frost.  To  the  presence  of  these  saline 
impurities  in  the  waters  of  the  streams  of  many  portions  of 
Minas  is  attributed  the  great  prevalence  of  the  disease 
known  as  goitre,  that  occurs  there  with  such  frequency. 

"  Most  of  the  streams  of  Bahia  are  brackish,  at  least  in 
the  dry  season." 

"  At  Jacard  the  apparatus  I  saw  in  use  in  the  manufac 
ture  of  salt  was  extremely  rude,  a  section  of  a  hollow  tree 
serving  for  the  leaching-tub,  and  small  logs  hollowed  out 
for  evaporating-vessels. 

Saltpetre,  as  above  remarked,  occurs  with  the  salt  over  a 
large  area  in  the  provinces  of  Bahia  and  Minas  Geraes ;  but 
in  the  limestone  region  of  the  Sao  Francisco  valley,  where 
caves  are  abundant,  it  is  found,  as  we  have  already  seen, 
mixed  with  the  earth  in  the  bottom  of  the  caves.  Von 
Martius  says  that  fifteen  leagues  up  the  Rio  do  Salitre  there 
are  extensive  caverns  excavated  in  limestone  and  filled  with 
a  black  earth  containing  -J^  of  saltpetre.  The  process  of 


PROVINCE   OF   BAHIA,  —  INTERIOR.  331 

extraction  is  very  simple.  The  earth  is  lixiviated  with  hot 
or  cold  water,  and  the  lye  is  reduced  in  strength  by  evapo 
ration  until  the  saltpetre  crystallizes  out.*  When  salt 
occurs  mixed  with  the  saltpetre  the  lye  obtained  by  the 
lixiviation  of  the  earth  is  first  evaporated  down  sufficiently 
to  allow  the  salt  to  crystallize,  after  which  the  saltpetre  is 
obtained  by  further  evaporation. 

Saltpetre  is  quite  largely  extracted  in  some  parts  of  the 
Sao  Francisco  valley,  and  on  the  Rio  das  Velhas.  Burton 
says  that  on  the  Upper  Rio  das  Velhas  it  sells  for  10  $  000 
(about  $5.00)  per  arroba. 

From  Carunhanha  to  Urubu  the  Sao  Francisco  flows 
through  a  flat  country,  bordered  here  and  there,  at  a 
greater  or  less  distance  from  the  river,  by  isolated  hills  and 
ridges.  Just  below  the  Rio  Carunhanha  is  the  Serra  da 
Lapa,  composed  of  limestone  f  of  a  bluish  color,  and  hori 
zontally  stratified.  Below  Urubu  the  river  valley,  accord 
ing  to  Burton,  becomes  more  contracted  and  is  bounded  by 
"  Serras,"  which  on  one  side  or  the  other  accompany  it  at 
a  short  distance.  These  serras  are  masses  of  horizontally 
stratified  sandstone,  with  which  the  valley  was  doubtless  at 
one  time  filled,  but  which  has  suffered  very  extensive  denu 
dation.  Burton  says  that  below  Urubu,  with  the  change  in 
the  geological  structure  of  the  valley  there  is  ushered  in  a 
change  in  the  climate  and  the  vegetation,  which  Mr.  Allen 
assures  me  is  very  marked.  The  sandstones  in  many  lo 
calities  are  described  by  Burton,  Halfeld,  and  others  as  ita- 
columite.  The  sandstone  lying  near  the  surface  of  the 

*  Burton,  Vol.  II.  p.  291. 

t  Mr.  Allen  says :  "  I  well  remember  the  serra  of  horizontal  blue  lime 
stone  at  and  below  Urubii  mentioned,  as  you  state,  by  Martins  and  Burton. 
The  limestone  for  many  miles  east  of  Chique-Chique  was  lithologically  of  the 
same  character,  but  the  strata  there  were  inclined.  See  my  report." 


332  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

tertiary  chapadas  of  the  Jequitinhonha  basin  also  resemble 
itacolumite.* 

Below  the  Barra  do  Rio  Grande  the  river  valley  is  de 
scribed  by  Burton  as  broadening  and  forming  a  dead  flat, 
which  in  places,  as  at  Chique-Chique,  is  covered  with 
patches  of  blowing  sand,  reminding  one  of  an  African  desert. 

A  short  distance  below  Chique-Chique,  near  Tapera  da 
Cima,  are  heavy  deposits  of  magnetic  iron  ore,  which  Bur 
ton  compares  with  the  Itabirite  and  Jacutinga  of  Gongo 
Socco  and  vicinity.  The  relation  of  these  deposits  to  the 
other  rocks  he  does  not  give,  but  Halfeld  states  that  they 
have  a  north  south  course. 

At  Pilao  Arcado  Burton  speaks  of  finding  a  conglomerate 
underlaid  by  soft  green  shale,  traversed  by  quartz  veins. 
Here  gneiss  makes  its  appearance.  The  Serra  do  Tomba- 
dor,  near  the  Ilha  Grande  do  Zabele",  Burton  describes  as 
composed  of  magnetic  iron  ore  resting  on  limestone.  The 
river  for  a  great  part  of  the  way  between  Chique-Chique 
and  Joazeiro  is  bounded  by  conical  hills  and  ridges.  Below 
Joazeiro  outliers  of  the  great  horizontal  sandstones,  &c.,  ap 
pear  constantly  on  both  sides  of  the  river,  and  they  con 
tinue,  as  we  shall  see  further  on,  even  below  the  fall  of 
Paulo  Affonso.  The  bottom  rocks  are  gneiss,  slates  of  va 
rious  kinds,  limestone,  &c.,  but  no  competent  geologist  has 
been  over  the  country,  and  its  structure  has  yet  to  be 
worked  out. 

*  Mr.  Allen  gives  me  the  following  note  :  "  Respecting  the  sandstone  occur 
ring  below  Urubii,  Burton's  observations  and  my  own  also  agree.  I  mention 
them  in  my  note  as  quartzitcs  and  quartzose  sandstone.  I  could  see  no 
difference  between  them  and  those  observed  200  miles  to  the  eastward  at 
Olhos  d'Agua  and  in  the  Jacobina  Taboleiro.  Near  Jacobina  I  observed  them 
also  disintegrated,  forming  beds  of  white  quartz  sand  on  the  declivities  of  some 
of  the  hills."  The  term  "  itacolumite  "  is  very  loosely  used  by  travellers,  and 
is  applied  to  compact  schistose  sandstone  as  well  as  to  the  true  itacolumite. 


GEOLOGY   OF   THE   VICINITY   OF   SAO   SALVADOR. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

PROVINCE    OF    BAHIA,   GEOLOGY    OF    THE    VICINITY   OF    SAO    SAL 
VADOR  AND   THE   BAHIA  AND   SAO   FRANCISCO   RAILROAD. 

Topography  of  the  Vicinity  of  Sao  Salvador  da  Bahia.  —  The  Upper  and 
Lower  Cities.  —  The  Population,  &c.  —  The  Harbor.  —  The  Commerce  of 
the  City  and  Province.  — The  Climate,  &c.  —  The  Bahia  Steam  Navigation 
Company.  —  The  Bahia  and  Sao  Francisco  Railroad.  —  The  Paraguassii 
Steam  Tram-road.  —  The  Gneiss  of  Bahia.  —  Decomposition.  —  Drift  De 
posits  —  Consolidation  of  Beaches.  —  Stone  Reef  at  Rio  Vermelho.  — 
Blown  Sands  covering  the  Drift  of  the  Hills.  —  Mr.  Allport's  Description  of 
the  Cretaceous  Beds  of  Monscrrate  and  Plataforma.  —  Fossil  Fishes,  Croco 
diles,  &c.  —  Description  of  several  species  of  Fossil  Mollusks.  —  Cretaceous 
Beds  of  Plataforma  and  Vicinity.  —  Prof.  Marsh's  Notice  of  the  Reptilian 
Remains  —  Fossil  Fishes  at  Agua  Comprida.  —  Gneiss  at  the  Rio  Johannes. 
—  Tabolciros  and  Sand  Plains  of  Camassari. — Peculiarities  of  the  Topo 
graphy  of  the  Tertiary  Hills.  —  Tabatinga  Clay.  —  Sand  Plains  and  Ta- 
boleiros  of  the  Imbu9ahy.  —  Peat-Bog.  —  Drift.  —  Diamond-washings  at 
Pitanga.  —  Cretaceous  Strata  at  Pojuca.  —  Piassahas.  —  Campos  of  Ala- 
goinhas.  —  Tertiary  Hills.  —  Character  of  Vegetation. 

THE  sea-coast  line  going  southward  doubles  sharply  north 
ward  on  itself  on  reaching  the  mouth  of  the  Bahia  de  Toclos 
os  Santos,  forming  a  sharp  peninsula  or  cape  directed  south 
ward  and  terminating  in  the  point  St.  Antonio.  This  point, 
which  is  composed  of  gneiss,  is  about  four  miles  long,  and 
has  a  mean  elevation  of  about  two  hundred  feet.  On  the 
esaward  side  the  land  is  hilly,  the  hills  being  often  hemi 
spherical  or  hemi-elliptical,  and  presenting  very  remarkably 
regular  outlines.  On  the  coast,  as  in  the  case  with  the  Morro 
do  Conselho,  and  the  hills  in  the  vicinity  of  Rio  Vermelho, 


334  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

these  hills  are  bare  of  trees,  so  that  their  form  is  beautifully 
seen.  On  the  western  side,  which  is  occupied  by  the  city 
of  Bahia,  this  cape  is  very  even  in  height,  and  is  bounded 
by  a  steep,  in  some  cases  precipitous  slope,*  which,  with  a 
somewhat  zigzag  course,  is  continued  many  miles  to  the 
northward,  apparently  marking  the  line  of  a  fracture. 

The  city  of  Sao  Salvador  da  Bahia,  usually  known  as 
Bahia,  stretches  along  the  edge  of  the  bluff  for  several 
miles.  The  cidade  alta  is  irregularly  but  well  built  for  a 
South  American  town,  and  there  are  some  beautiful  resi 
dences,  especially  in  the  southern  part  of  the  city.  There 
are  many  churches,  some  of  which  are  very  fine,  together 
with  schools  of  various  kinds.  Besides  these  there  is  a 
medical  college,  a  public  library  of  several  thousand  vol 
umes,  a  large  theatre,  a  public  garden,  and  a  museum ;  but 
the  latter  is  no  credit  to  the  city. 

Below  the  bluff  is  the  cidade  baixa,  which  occupies  a  very 
narrow  strip  along  the  bay.  This  is  the  business  portion, 
and  though  it  for  the  most  part  consists  of  but  one  or  two 
streets,  it  is  closely  built  up  with  warehouses  and  stores. 
Here  are  the  Alfandega,  or  custom-house,  the  markets, 
the  marine  arsenal,  the  consular  offices,  banks,  several 
hotels,  &c.  It  is  a  hot  and  busy  place.  The  city  stretches 
along  the  shore  for  several  miles  to  the  northeast,  form 
ing  the  suburbs  of  Monserrate  and  Itapagipe,  the  latter 
known  as  the  head-quarters  of  the  Bahia  Steam  .Naviga 
tion  Company.  The  two  cities  are  united  by  very  highly 

*  "In  1671,  as  a  result  of  heavy  rains,  there  occurred  a  destructive  slide 
from  the  summit  of  the  bluff,  which  precipitated  a  large  quantity  of  earth  upon 
the  lower  town,  destroying  houses,  burying  thirty  persons  alive,  and  filling  up 

half  of  the  Praia Similar  slides  have  frequently  occurred  in  the  history 

of  Bahia,  notwithstanding  the  expenditure  of  immense  sums  in  endeavoring  to 
prevent  them."  —  Kidder's  Brazil,  Vol.  II.  p.  39. 


GEOLOGY   OF  THE   VICINITY   OF   SlO   SALVADOR.          335 

inclined  streets,  passable  with  great  difficulty  by  carriages 
or  teams.* 

The  whole  city  numbers  from  160,000  f  to  180,000  $ 
inhabitants,  principally  of  Portuguese  and  negro  descent, 
though  there  are  many  foreigners,  as  at  Rio.  Quite  a  num 
ber  of  Englishmen  are  engaged  in  business  there,  but  Ameri 
cans  are  few.  The  society  is  almost  thoroughly  European- 
ized,  and  there  is  much  real  culture  among  the  people. 

The  Bay  of  Bahia  forms  one  of  the  best  harbors  on  the 
Brazilian  coast,  and,  next  to  that  of  Rio,  it  is  the  most  re 
sorted  to.  It  is,  however,  so  wide,  and  the  entrance  is  so 
open,  that  the  ocean-swell  rolls  in,  preventing  shipping 
lying  at  the  quays,  which  is  also  the  case  at  Rio.  In  ordi 
nary  weather  the  shipping  is  protected  by  the  high  land  on 
which  the  city  stands,  but  southwest  storms  cause  a  heavy 
swell.  The  city  owes  its  importance  chiefly  to  its  harbor, 
which  eminently  fits  it  to  be  a  port  for  foreign  trade,  while 
it  makes  the  city  the  centre  of  the  trade  of  the  coast  for  a 
long  distance  north  and  south,  as  well  as  of  the  interior. 
The  products  of  the  Sao  Francisco  and  of  Sergipe  find  their 
way  for  the  most  part  to  Bahia.  The  borders  of  the  bay 
itself,  or  the  Reconcavo,  so  called,  are  highly  cultivated,  and 
produce  much  sugar,  tobacco,  piassaba  fibre,  &c.  The  princi 
pal  product  of  the  interior  is  cotton,  which  is  cultivated  to  a 

*  A  street  with  a  moderate  grade  to  connect  the  two  towns  was  in  process 
of  building  in  1867.  By  this  time  it  is  probably  completed.  Dapper,  in  his 
America,  published  in  1673,  gives  a  very  curious  and  interesting  copperplate 
engraving  of  the  city.  He  represents  the  upper  city  as  built  on  a  plain,  sur 
rounded  behind  by  a  narrow  crescent-shaped  lake,  and  with  high  mountains  in 
the  background.  Two  inclined  planes  for  carriages  elevated  by  machinery 
are  seen  uniting  the  upper  and  lower  towns. 

t  Pompe'o,  Geographic/,  1864. 

J  Dr.  Candido  Mendes  de  Almeida,  Atlas,  1868. 


336  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

considerable  extent  in  the  less  arid  regions.  Cattle  are 
raised  in  great  quantities,  and  large  herds  are  sent  into 
the  province  from  the  country  west  and  north.  Perhaps 
no  better  idea  of  the  commerce  of  Bahia  could  be  afforded 
than  by  giving  the  official  tables  of  the  exports  during  the 
year  1864  —  65  * :  — 

Articles.  Official  Values. 

Agoardente 3  72:813$!  20 

Cotton 1.303:277$553 

Sugar 6.316:627$583 

Cacau 173:225$356 

Coffee 1.614:063$450 

Cigars 45:839$000 

Hides 356:008$300 

Diamonds 1.381 :500$000 

Other  Articles 81:029$049 

Tobacco 2.060:833$745 

Woods 237:2660997 

Piassaba 141:437$653 

The  cacau  comes  principally  from  Ilhe'os,  and  the  coffee 
from  the  Colonia  Leopoldina.  Large  quantities  of  good 
cigars  are  made  in  Bahia,  and  are  sold  at  a  very  low  price. 
At  Cachoeira,  or  rather  at  Sao  Felix,  opposite,  is  a  very 
large  manufactory  of  cigars  (charutos)  and  cigaritos.  The 
latter  are  much  esteemed  in  Brazil.  The  hides  come  from 
the  interior  of  the  province  and  from  the  Sao  Francisco. 

I  have  in  preceding  pages  called  attention  to  the  whale- 
fishery  of  the  port. 

The  following  table  will  show  the  value  of  national  pro- 

*  Relatorio  of  the  President,  the  Commendador  Manoel  Pinto  de  Souza 
Dantas,  Bahia,  1866,  2,  Quadro  No.  11. 


GEOLOGY   OF   THE   VICINITY   OF   SlO  SALVADOR.          337 

ducts  exported  to  other  provinces  during  the  latter  half  of 
the  year  1865 :  — 

Ports.  Values. 

Alagoas 1 15:05  2$949 

Ceara 26:062$318 

Espirito  Santo          ....  9:545$877 

Maranhao 27:812$877 

Pernambuco 1.048:050$020 

Para 60:008$970 

Parahyba 1:485$500 

Rio  de  Janeiro 368:492$986 

Rio  Grande  do  Sul   .         .         .         .  212:865$511 

Sergipe 150:930$837 


2,020:307$845 

The  climate  of  Bahia  is  hot,  but  not  unhealthy.*  In  the 
lower  city,  where  the  streets  are  narrow  and  protected  from 
the  sea  breeze  by  the  high  ground  behind,  it  is  very  warm 
and  uncomfortable,  but  I  have  never  suffered  so  much  in 
the  lower  town  from  the  heat  as  I  have  in  early  summer  in 
New  York.  In  the  upper  city  the  climate  is  exceedingly 
pleasant  and  healthy  for  a  tropical  city.  Bahia  has  suf 
fered  at  times  from  yellow-fever,f  but  it  has  been  for  many 
years  remarkably  healthy. 

Bahia  is  connected  with  Europe  by  two  lines  of  steam 
ships,  and  with  New  York  by  the  Brazilian  mail  steamers. 
It  is  the  head-quarters  of  the  Bahia  Steam  Navigation  Com- 

*  For  several  years  past  Dr.  Antonio  de  Lacerda  has  kept  a  journal  of 
meteorological  observations  for  M.  Arago,  but  I  do  not  know  that  they  have 
yet  been  published.  The  climate  of  Bahia  appears  to  be  more  moist  than  that 
of  Rio,  and  rains  are  more  frequent,  being  distributed  through  the  entire  year. 

t  Pompe'o,  writing  in  1864,  says  (Geographic.,  p.  449):  "Until  1849  Bahia 
was  sufficiently  healthy ;  but  since  that  time  the  yellow-fever  became  almost 
endemic,  attacking  with  preference  the  Europeans."  Pompeo  is  not  quite  ac 
curate  here. 

VOL.    I.  15  T 


338  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

pany,  under  the  able  direction  of  my  esteemed  friend,  Mr. 
Hugh  Wilson.  This  company  has  at  present  a  fleet  of  six 
teen  steamers.  Of  these  one  runs  regularly  between  the 
city  and  Maceid,  in  the  north,  calling  at  Penedo,  and  at 
various  ports  in  the  province  of  Sergipe.  Regular  steam 
navigation  has  been  established  011  the  Sao  Francisco,  below 
the  Porto  das  Piranhas.  Several  steamers  of  the  company 
are  engaged  in  running  between  Bahia,  Cachoeira,  St.  Amaro, 
and  various  other  points  in  the  Reconcavo,  and  there  is  a 
regular  line  between  Bahia  and  Caravellas,  or  the  Colonia. 

A  railroad  has  been  commenced  to  Joazeiro,  but  after 
extending  ninety  miles  in  a  northerly  direction  from  Bahia,, 
it  ends  in  a  desert  sand-plain  at  Alagoinhas,  as  we  shall  see, 
and  there  is  no  prospect  of  its  ending  anywhere  else  for 
some  years  to  come. 

From  Cachoeira  to  Urubu,  on  the  Sao  Francisco,  a  steam 
tram-road  has  been  projected.  It  was  formally  opened  in 
July,  1867,  but  I  have  not  learned  what  progress  it  has 
made  up  to  this  time.*  The  road  will  run  up  the  Para- 
guassu  valley,  through  the  diamond  region,  with  side 
branches  to  Feira  de  Sta.  Anna  and  Lenc,6es. 

This  railroad  has  a  future  before  it,  as  it  is  to  run  through 
a  much  more  important  tract  of  country  than  the  Bahia 
and  Sao  Francisco  Railroad. 

The  gneiss  composing  the  point  on  which  Bahia  is  built 
is  composed  of  a  very  compact,  sometimes  trap-like  variety 
of  gneiss,  not  infrequently  without  mica  and  with  very  in 
distinct  planes  of  stratification,  as  has  already  been  observed 
by  Allport  f  and  Darwin.  The  latter  has  given  the  following 
description  of  the  Bahian  gneiss  :  ^  — 

*  Major  James  informs  me  that  it  is  proposed  to  make  this  a  railroad. 
t  Quarterly  Journal  Geological  Society,  Vol.  XVI.  Part  3,  p.  263. 
t  Geological  Observations,  p.  140. 


GEOLOGY   OF   THE   VICINITY   OF   SAO   SALVADOR.          339 

"  The  prevailing  rock  is  gneiss,  often  passing,  by  the  disappear 
ance  of  the  quartz  and  mica,  and  by  the  feldspar  losing  its  red 
color,  into  a  brilliant  gray  primitive  greenstone.  Not  unfre- 
quently  quartz  and  hornblende  are  arranged  in  layers  in  almost 
amorphous  feldspar.  There  is  some  fine-grained  sienitic  granite, 
orbicularly  marked  by  ferruginous  lines,  and  weathering  into 
vertical,  cylindrical  holes  almost  touching  each  other.  In  the 
gneiss,  concretions  of  granular  feldspar,  and  others  of  garnets  with 
mica,  occui'.  The  gneiss  is  traversed  by  numerous  dikes  composed 
of  black,  finely  crystallized,  hornblendic  rock,  containing  a  little 
glassy  feldspar  and  sometimes  mica,  and  varying  in  thickness  from 
mere  threads  to  ten  feet  ;  these  threads,  which  are  often  curvi 
linear,  could  sometimes  be  traced  running  into  the  larger  dikes. 
One  of  these  dikes  was  remarkable  from  having  been  in  two  or 
three  places  laterally  disjointed,  with  unbroken  gneiss  interposed 
between  the  broken  ends,  and  in  one  part  with  a  portion  of  the 
gneiss  driven,  apparently  whilst  in  a  softened  state,  into  its  side 
or  wall.  In  several  neighboring  places,  the  gneiss  included  angu 
lar,  well-defined,  sometimes  bent  masses  of  hornblende  rock, 
qxiite  like,  except  in  being  more  perfectly  crystallized,  that  forming 
the  dikes,  and,  at  least  in  one  instance,  containing  (as  determined 
by  Professor  Miller)  augite  as  well  as  hornblende. 

".  .  .  .  The  folia  of  the  gneiss  within  a  few  miles  round  Bahia 
generally  strike  irregularly,  and  are  often  curvilinear,  dipping 
in  all  directions  at  various  angles  ;  but  where  best  denned,  they 
extended  most  frequently  in  a  N.  E.  by  N.  (or  East  50°  N.)  and 
S.  W.  by  S.  line,  corresponding  nearly  with  the  coast  line  north 
wards  of  the  bay.  I  may  add  that  Mr.  Gardner  found  in  several 
parts  of  the  province  of  Ceara,  which  lies  between  four  hundred 
and  five  hundred  miles  north  of  Bahia,  gneiss  with  the  folia  ex 
tending  E.  45°  N. ;  and  in  Guyana,  according  to  Sir  R.  Schom- 
burgk,  the  same  rock  strikes  E.  57°  N.  Again,  Humboldt  de 
scribes  the  gneiss  granite  over  an  immense  area  in  Venezuela  and 
even  in  Colombia,  as  striking  E.  50°  N.,  and  dipping  to  the  N.  W. 


340  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

at  an  angle  of  fifty  degrees.  Hence  all  the  observations  hitherto 
made  tend  to  show  that  the  gneissic  rocks  over  the  whole  of  this 
part  of  the  continent  have  their  folia  extending  generally  within 
almost  a  point  of  the  compass  of  the  same  direction." 

On  the  surface  the  gneiss  is  in  some  places  decomposed 
to  a  great  depth,  and  so  soft  as  to  be  easily  removed  by  a 
spade  or  mattock.  It  is  well  exposed  in  the  numerous  cut 
tings  on  the  streets  in  different  parts  of  the  city  and  vicin 
ity.  On  the  Ladeira  do  Bom  Gosto,  on  the  southern  side 
ascending  the  hill  towards  the  cemetery,  is  a  very  heavy  ex 
cavation,  in  which  the  decomposed  gneiss  in  situ  is  beauti 
fully  shown,  and  where,  at  the  time  of  my  visit,  workmen  were 
cutting  it  away  with  hoes.  The  decomposition  consists  of 
a  loss  of  alkalies  on  the  part  of  the  feldspar,  reducing  it  to 
the  state  of  kaolin.  The  iron  of  the  rock  is  oxidized  and 
stains  it  a  deep  brick-red,  though  the  color  is  rarely  uni 
form,  but  likely  to  be  in  streaks,  portions  of  the  rock  being 
white.  Between  the  lighthouse  at  the  barra  and  the  first 
little  point  above  to  the  westward,  the  rock  is  the  dark 
gneiss  above  described  ;  it  is  well  bedded,  but  the  stratifi 
cation  is  much  disturbed.  The  strike  here  is  N.  60°  E.  Dip 
N.  W.  35°.  Nearer  the  lighthouse  the  rocks  become  much 
distorted  ;  there  are  here  several  large  veins  traversing  the 
rock ;  one  trap  vein  about  nine  feet  wide  has  a  N.  S.  direc 
tion,  while  a  granite  vein  I  observed  runs  N.  E.,  S.  W. 

The  lighthouse  is  built  on  a  rock  which  is  joined  to  the 
mainland  by  a  narrow  and  low  isthmus.  The  road  which 
skirts  the  shore  crosses  this  isthmus,  making  a  considerable 
excavation  necessary,  while  the  road  branching  off  to  go  to 
the  lighthouse  runs  through  a  similar  cutting.  The  greatest 
thickness  thus  exposed  is  twelve  feet.  The  upper  part, 
c  c  c,  consists  of  the  ordinary  red  earth  one  finds  every- 


GEOLOGY   OF   THE   VICINITY    OF   SAO   SALVADOR.          3-41 

where  spread  over  the  surface  of  the  hills  at  Bahia.  In 
it  are  seen  occasional  loose  irregular  masses  of  quartz  and 
Bahian  gneiss,  the  latter  decomposed.  The  under  part,  b  b, 
consists  of  an  irregular  sheet  of  boulders  of  Bahian  gneiss 
more  or  less  decomposed,  sometimes  a  foot  and  a  half  in 
diameter,  in  some  cases  angular,  in  others  rounded,  to 
gether  with  others  of  that  peculiar  friable  quartz  so  com 
mon  in  the  quartz  veins  of  the  Bahian  peninsula,  also  either 
angular  or  rounded  milky  quartz  pebbles,  of  all  sizes,  the 


whole  being  thrown  together,  without  any  arrangement,  in  a 
confused  mass.  The  greatest  thickness  of  the  boulder  bed 
exposed  is  about  four  feet,  but  it  thins  out  at  a  to  only  six 
inches,  and  is  seen  to  lie  immediately  upon  the  decomposed 
gneiss. 

This  is  the  most  remarkable  gravel  deposit  which  I  have 
seen  on  the  coast.  According  to  my  estimation,  the  height 
of  the  bottom  of  this  sheet  above  sea  level  is  twenty  to 
twenty-five  feet. 

On  the  eastern  side  of  the  lighthouse  the  gneiss  is  much 
broken  up  and  faulted.  There  are  here  some  interesting 
granite  veins,  in  which  the  materials  are  seen  to  be  very 
coarsely  crystallized  on  the  side  of  the  fissure,  while  the 
crystals  of  the  middle  of  the  vein  are  very  small.  Near 
this  place  I  found  gneiss  of  a  light  color,  full  of  garnets, 
almost  vertical,  and  with  a  strike  of  N.  25°  E. 

Going  up  the  beach  and  passing  the  first  little  point,  one 
observes  a  sheet  of  a  soft  dark  brownish  or  yellowish  sand- 


342  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

stone  lying  against  the  hillside,  and  extending  from  near  low- 
tide  mark  to  a  height  of  some  fifteen  to  twenty  feet.  This 
sand  has  been  evidently  washed  or  blown  up  from  the  shore 
over  the  hillside.  The  grains  of  sand  in  this  rock  are  very 
fine  and  uniform,  and  the  Avhole  is  loosely  cemented  by 
oxide  of  iron. 

I  had  observed  that  the  red  drift  coating  in  no  place  came 
down  to  the  surface  of  the  sea,  but  that  it  was  invariably 
worn  away  up  to  about  that  level  to  which  the  waves  must 
have  reached  at  the  time  when  the  late  rise  of  the  land 
began.  Below  that  line  the  hillsides  were  bare  and  the 
rock  surface  broken  and  irregular.  I  found  that  the  sands 
just  described  overlapped  the  drift  and  in  part  protected  it, 
but  the  waves  had  washed  away  a  portion  of  it,  so  that  the 
drift  is  seen  underlying  the  sands  and  extending  to  below 
half-tide  mark,  showing,  I  think,  conclusively  that  the  land 
was  more  elevated  when  the  drift  was  deposited  than  it  is 
at  present. 

The  seaward  sides  of  several  gneiss  hills  are  bared  and 
much  broken  up  by  the  waves,  which  beat  heavily  on  this 
coast.  It  is  interesting  to  observe  the  exceedingly  irregu 
lar  surfaces  developed  by  this  action,  and  how  the  harder 
rocks  become  prominent  while  the  softer  are  washed  away. 
This  gneiss  is  of  the  same  general  character  as  that  at 
the  Barra,  though  it  varies  much  in  color  and  general  ap 
pearance. 

At  the  lighthouse,  and  especially  to  the  eastward,  the 
beach  is  partially  solidified  by  the  cementing  together  of  its 
materials  by  the  lime  derived  from  shells.  The  shingle  of 
the  beach  and  the  sand  and  gravel  packed  away  in  cracks 
in  the  rocks  become  cemented  solidly  together.  Where  the 
beach  is  composed  of  sand,  it  is  converted  into  a  very  hard 


GEOLOGY   OF   THE   VICINITY   OF   SiO   SALVADOR.          343 

sandstone  up  to  a  level  considerably  above  half-tide,  and  in 
this  sandstone  the  structure  and  irregular  bedding  of  the 
beach  are  beautifully  preserved.  Very  commonly,  after  this 
solidification  has  taken  place  to  some  depth,  the  newly  made 
rock  is  washed  bare,  and  broken  up  by  the  waves.  In  this 
case  it  forms  detached  masses,  sometimes  an  extensive 
sheet  of  sandstone,  which  appears  to  crop  out  on  the  beach 
with  a  seaward  dip  of  a  few  degrees,  whatever  the  trend 
of  the  beach  may  be.  Masses  of  this  kind  we  find  at  inter 
vals  on  the  shore  between  Bom  Fim  and  Bahia,  and  on  the 
coast  thence  to  Rio  Vermelho.  The  sandstone  of  this  reef 
or  solidified  beach  often  contains  layers  of  coarse  materials 
as  well  as  an  abundance  of  shells,  the  latter  usually  broken, 
but  sometimes  perfectly  preserved,  and  with  their  colors 
quite  fresh. 

It  is  very  interesting  to  see  how  this  consolidation  goes 
on.  On  a  long  sand  beach  one  may  trace  it,  sometimes,  in 
every  stage  of  progress.  It  frequently  happens  that,  owing 
probably  first  to  a  heavy  storm,  a  ridge  is  thrown  up  behind 
the  beach.  This  opposes  a  barrier  to  the  sea  for  a  long  time 
thereafter,  and  may  increase  in  height  and  extent  from  the 
drift  of  the  sand  by  the  wind,  which  is  very  likely  to  take 
place,  especially  when  the  shores  have  a  northerly  trend,  on 
account  of  the  prevalence  of  northeast  winds.  Along  this 
line  shells  are  thrown  up  in  great  quantities  and  buried 
in  the  sands.  These  shells  become  dissolved  by  the  water 
soaking  through  the  sands,  whether  salt  or  fresh,  and  the 
carbonate  of  lime  thus  derived  is  deposited  as  a  cement 
to  the  materials  of  the  beach  to  a  height  somewhat  above 
half-tide,  rarely  ever  to  high-tide  mark.  The  copious  rains 
must  tend  notably  to  this  result,  and  the  waters  from  marsh 
lands  soaking  through  the  beach  must  also  assist  in  the 


344  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY/ 

solidifying  process.  Sometimes,  after  the  solidification  of 
the  lower  part  of  the  beach,  the  loose  parts  are  swept  away 
by  a  storm,  it  may  be,  sometimes,  by  the  bursting  of  the 
barrier  by  the  freshet  of  a  river,  which  has  inundated  the 
low  grounds  behind.  In  this  case  the  beach  is  left  stand 
ing  like  a  wall  running  in  the  water  parallel  to  the  coast. 
Such  a  reef  is  seen  at  Rio  Vermelho,  where,  after  skirting 
the  shore  for  some  distance,  it  projects  partially  across  the 
mouth  of  a  little  bay,  like  a  wall  or  breakwater  of  rock. 

The  reef  at  Rio  Vermelho  illustrates  very  well  the  general 
character  of  these  consolidated  beaches.  It  is  composed  of 
layers  of  calcareous  sandstone  and  conglomerate,  often  some 
what  irregular,  dipping  seaward,  the  dip  being  only  a  few 
degrees,  or  about  that  of  an  ordinary  sand  beach.  The  height 
of  the  reef  is  very  uniform.  In  thp  finished  and  isolated 
reefs,  as  that  of  Pernambuco  and  the  one  under  considera 
tion,  the  recent  rise  of  the  land  has  brought  this  level  some 
what  above  that  of  the  sea. 

The  solidified  portion  is  seen  to  be  but  a  sheet  of  varying 
thickness  lying  on  the  surface  of  the  beach.  On  the  inner 


MigliWater. 


ItoarWccte 


side  it  is  quite  thin,  and  from  the  action  of  water  behind  it 
is  undermined  and  broken  off,  until,  at  last,  it  forms  a  low 
perpendicular  wall,  undermined  below  and  sometimes  pro 
jecting  several  feet.  Usually  this  side  of  the  reef  is  flanked 
by  a  slope  of  sand  or  mud,  and  sometimes  by  large  oblong 
blocks  of  the  sandstone. 


GEOLOGY   OF   THE   VICINITY   OF   SAO  SALVADOR.          345 

The  surface  of  the  reef  is,  broadly  speaking,  horizontal, 
but  it  is  marked  by  longitudinal  ridges  and  much  worn 
away,  sometimes  honeycombed  and  exceedingly  rough,  with 
large,  shallow  or  deep,  irregular  pools  of  water,  the  homes 
of  several  species  of  corals,  <fcc.  The  whole  mass  is  divided 
by  joints  into  great  blocks.  On  the  seaward  edge  the  reef 
is  often  worn  away  by  the  waves  and  undermined,  present 
ing  always  a  perpendicular  wall  to  the  sea.  The  upper  bed 
almost  always  projects  a  little,  and  great  blocks  broken 
from  it  lie  in  front,  which  afford  some  protection  to  the  reef. 
One  often  finds  a  depth  of  twelve  to  fifteen  feet  or  more  at 
low  tide  along  this  side  of  the  reef.  In  most  cases  corals 
grow  on  the  faces  of  these  reefs  below  low  water. 

The  reef  rock  is  quarried  quite  largely  at  Bahia,  as  well 
as  at  Pernambuco,  for  building  purposes,  and  in  both  cities 
it  has  been  used  for  flagging.  In  the  sidewalks  of  the 
upper  town  at  Bahia  one  may  see  it  in  large  blocks  which 
are  full  of  shells  of  species  now  common  on  the  coast. 

Going  northward  beyond  the  Morro  do  Conselho,  the 
gneiss  hills  recede  more  and  more  from  the  coast,  and  low 
lands  come  in  between  them  and  the  sea.  These  I  have 
examined  for  a  short  distance  north  of  the  Morro  do  Con 
selho.  The  coast  is  fringed  with  patches  and  strips  of  sands 
which,  in  part  forming  dry  plains  with  a  scanty  vegetation, 
in  part  swampy,  do  not  rise  to  a  greater  height,  as  a  general 
rule,  than  eight  to  ten  feet  above  the  sea.  There  are  many 
patches  of  this  kind  near  Bahia,  and  some  are  of  considerable 
extent.  On  the  sea-coast  they  occupy  several  little  bays  be 
tween  the  hills.  As  we  go  northward  beyond  the  Morro  do 
Conselho  these  sands  become  wider  in  extent  and  occupy 
large  tracts.  The  sands  on  this  coast  are  very  fine,  and 
are  easily  raised  and  carried  by  the  winds,  so  that  exten- 

15* 


346  .          GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

sive  sand-hills  are  formed,  and  the  shores  of  Itapuan,  a  few 
leagues  north  of  Bahia,  are  white  as  snow. 

In  an  excursion  made  among  the  dome-shaped  gneiss  hills 
to  the  east  of  the  city  of  Bahia,  and  bordering  the  sands,  I 
observed  that  the  light,  white  sand  was  blown  up  on  the 
seaward  side  of  some  of  the  hills  over  the  rich  red  drift,  so 
that  one  half  of  a  hill  is  snow  white  and  the  other  brick  red. 
These  hills  arc  cultivated  in  places,  and  it  was  very  interest 
ing  to  see  a  red  field  set  in  a  framework  of  white  sands,  the 
drift  soil  being  turned  up  in  the  process  of  tilling. 

The  city  of  Bahia,  as  already  described,  is  built  in  part 
on  a  low  strip  of  land,  which,  beginning  some  two  miles 
above  the  lighthouse  on  the  bay  side,  accompanies  the 
shore  for  a  mile  or  two  farther  on,  when  it  sweeps  round 
westward,  separating  itself  from  the  gneiss  ridge,  forming 
a  long,  irregular  tongue  of  land  occupied  by  the  suburbs 
Jequetaia,  Bom  Fim,  and  Itapagipe. 

From  Jequetaia  to  Bom  Fim  this  tongue  of  land  is  flat 
and  composed  of  recent  sands.  At  Bom  Fim  and  Monser- 
rate  the  land  is  higher  and  more  irregular,  the  height  being 
eighty  to  one  hundred  feet.  It  is  composed  of  cretaceous 
strata.  Allport  says  :  *  — 

"  The  rocky  cliff  forming  the  southwest  of  the  hill,  on 
which  the  fort  of  Monserrat  is  built,  presents  to  view  sev 
eral  alternations  of  conglomerate,  sandstone,  and  shale. 
Towards  the  northeast  these  beds  pass  into  a  gritty  shale 
of  a  bluish-gray  color,  and  full  of  pebbles  ;  the  latter 
gradually  disappear,  and  the  upper  strata,  as  far  as  the  sea 
ward  exposed  portion  extends,  consists  of  beds  of  shale,  al 
ternating  with  bands  of  sandstone,  both  of  which  contain 
the  same  species  of  fossil  shells.  The  entire  series  of  these 

*  Quarterly  Journal  Geological  Society,  Vol.  XVI.  Tart  3,  p.  263. 


GEOLOGY  OF   THE   VICINITY   OF   SAO   SALVADOR.          347 

deposits  is  covered  with  the  usual  red  loam,  and  have  the 
general  inclination  to  the  northwest. 

"  The  seaward  exposed  position  of  the  cliff  of  Monserrat, 
about  thirty  feet  in  height,  consists  chiefly  of  conglomerate, 
with  irregular  wedge-shaped  bands  of  shale  and  clay,  and 
also  bands  of  sandstone.  The  conglomerate  is  composed  of 
more  or  less  rounded  pebbles  of  gneiss,  granite,  quartz,  and 
other  crystalline  rocks,  and  occasionally  of  sandstone,  the 
whole  forming  an  extremely  hard  rock.  The  pebbles  vary 
in  size  from  the  finest  gravel  to  large  boulders. 

"  In  the  shale,  near  the  base  of  the  cliff,  were  found  the 
fossils  about  to  be  noticed,  consisting  chiefly  of  scales  and 
other  portions  of  fish,  bones  and  teeth  of  saurians,  together 
with  lignite,  a  few  Mollusca  and  some  Entomostraca. 

"  Two  miles  from  the  above  hill,  in  a  northeast  direc 
tion,  is  the  Plataforma,  another  hill  of  the  same  formation, 
but  loftier ;  the  conglomerates  and  shales  have  here  the 
same  lithological  character,  and  in  the  latter  are  found  sev 
eral  fossils  similar  to  those  found  at  Monserrat. 

"  The  geological  position  of  the  above  formation  is  unde 
termined,  as  they  have  not  been  traced  in  connection  with 
other  deposits  ;  but  a  probable  inference  may,  perhaps,  be 
made  from  an  examination  of  the  fossil  remains. 

"  With  regard  to  the  fish  remains,  Sir  P.  Egerton,  Bart., 
F.  G.  S.,  to  whom  the  specimens  have  been  submitted, 
states  that  "  the  scales  are  those  of  Lepidotus.  The  spe 
cies  appear  to  be  a  new  one.  The  nearest  approach  to  it 
is  an  undescribed  species  from  the  lithographic  stone  of 
Pappenheim  [middle  oolite]. 

"  Numerous  fish-bones  were  found  associated  with  the 
scales ;  and  probably  the  greater  portion  belong  to  Levido- 
tus  also.  But  these  and  the  crocodilian  teeth  and  bones, 


348  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL    GEOGRAPHY. 

which  are  also  common  in  these  clays  from  Monserrat  and 
Plataforma,  have  not  yet  been  systematically  examined. 
Professor  Owen,  on  a  cursory  view  of  the  large  vertebra, 
figured  in  PL  XVII.,*  suggested  that  it  would  be  a  dorsal 
vertebra  of  a  Dinosaurian  reptile  allied  to  the  Mcg-alo- 
saurus" 

At  Monserrat  Mr.  Allport  collected  a  Melania  described 
by  Morris  as  Melania  terebriformis,  and  species  of  Unio, 
Paludina,  Neritina  (?),  together  with  seven  species  of  cyp- 
rids,  enumerated  and  in  part  described  by  Jones,  namely, 
Cypris  (?)  concultata,  Candona  Candida  Mull,  Cypris  (?) 
Monserratensis,  Cypris  (?)  Allportiana,  Cypris  sp.  non  de- 
script. 

I  was  unable  to  visit  the  locality  at  the  fort,  but  I  ex 
amined  the  beds  quite  carefully  near  the  Pedra  Furada. 
On  the  shore,  south  of  this  last-named  locality,  are  exposed 
thick  beds  of  sandstone,  shale,  conglomerate,  and  limestone, 
the  continuation  of  the  same  series  as  Allport  describes. 
This  limestone  is  of  a  compact  texture,  and  mottled  with 
brown,  gray,  and  green.  It  contains  some  sand,  together 
with  little  pebbles  of  gneiss  and  quartz,  generally  angular. 
Freshly  broken,  this  rock  shows  the  fossils  very  indistinctly, 
but  on  the  weathered  surfaces  they  stand  out  in  fine  relief. 
At  the  same  time  the  surface  becomes  granular,  as  if  it 
were  composed  of  coarse,  round,  or  oval  grains  of  sand. 
These  are,  however,  calcareous,  and  the  structure  may  be 
oolitic,  though  the  grains  look  as  though  they  had  been 
rounded  mechanically. 

Associated  with  this  rock  is  a  fine-textured  argillaceous, 
light  slate-colored  limestone,  in  which  there  is  no  trace  of 
this  oolitic  (?)  structure,  but  instead  one  finds  occasionally 

*  Quarterly  Journal,  loc.  oil. 


GEOLOGY   OF  THE  VICINITY   OF   SlO   SALVADOR.          349 

the  cone-in-cone  structure  beautifully  developed,  —  a  some 
what  unusual  circumstance  in  rocks  of  this  age.  In  these 
rocks,  which,  at  the  most,  form  a  bed  but  two  feet  thick, 
several  species  of  shells  occur  in  immense  numbers.  Of 
these  Melania  terebriformis  and  Paludina  (  Vivipara)  La- 
cerdce  sp.  nov.  are  the  most  abundant.  Species  of  Unio, 
Planorbis,  teeth  and  bones  of  crocodiles,  and  bones  of 
Dinosaurian  reptiles  are  also  to  be  found  here,  together 
with  scales  and  bones  of  Lepidotus  and  other  fishes. 

This  limestone  with  its  fossil  shells  resembles  very  closely 
specimens  of  fresh-water  fossiliferous  limestones  from  the 
Weald  of  England. 

There  are  also  thick  beds  of  shale,  in  places  black  and 
finely  laminated,  but  for  the  great  part  not  Avell  laminated 
and  very  soft,  of  a  very  light  color,  and  full  of  little  flakes 
of  mica.  In  this  shale  are  to  be  found  layers  abounding 
in  entomostracan  remains,  of  which  the  most  interesting  is 
an  esthcrian  with  its  valves  marked  with  concentric  ridges 
like  an  Astarte,  and  apparently  new.  Fish  scales  and  skele 
tons  are  not  uncommon. 

There  are  some  heavy  beds  of  sandstone  in  this  section, 
which  are  seen  near  the  Pedra  Furada.  This  sandstone  is 
fine-textured,  soft,  and  of  a  light,  greenish-gray  tint.  It  is 
a  rare  thing  that  it  affords  fossil  remains,  and  these  are 
usually  carbonized  stems  of  plants.  Von  Martius  speaks  of 
rich  beds  of  Blatter- Kohl  near  the  mouth  of  Itapagipe  and 
of  a  brown  coal  in  the  sandstone  near  the  city  of  Bahia. 
This  last  is  said  to  have  been  worked  for  a  short  time  by 
the  direction  of  the  government,  by  Feldner,  a  German, 
early  in  this  century.  I  saw  nothing  to  indicate  the  exist 
ence  of  coal  or  lignite  at  Bahia,  and  I  do  not  believe  that 
any  deposit  of  the  slightest  value  exists  there.* 

*  Gardner  says  that  Dr.  Parigot  found  the  Bahian  coal  to  be  lignite. 


350  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY- 

The  Monserrate  fossils  clearly  indicate  a  fresh-water  origin 
for  the  beds  in  which  they  occur.  The  following  are  the 
mollusks  thus  far  obtained  from  this  locality :  — 

Melania  terebriformis  Morris,  Geological  Joiirnal,  Vol.  XVI.  p.  266, 
PL  16,  Figs.  3  a,  3  b,  3  c. 

"  Shell  subulate,  consisting  of  7  —  8  flattened  whorls,  marked 
with  numerous  oblique,  somewhat  prominent,  rounded  ribs,  which 
are  in  some  specimens  stronger  towards  the  anterior  part  of  the 
shell.  In  some  individuals  the  posterior  part  of  each  whorl  is 
slightly  raised,  making  the  suture  more  distinct.  The  last  whorl 
is  somewhat  constricted.  The  aperture  is  ovate.  The  lip  of  the 
columella  is  somewhat  thickened  and  reflexed."  Length  18  mm. 
Mr.  Morris  gives  a  figure  of  a  smooth  variety,  with-  a  less  cylin 
drical  shell.  The  top  of  the  spire  of  the  common  forms  of  M. 
terebriformis  is  rarely  perfect  in  adult  specimens.  The  younger 
shells  are  sharp-pointed,  and  might  be  mistaken  as  belonging  to 
another  species. 

The  test  is  usually  well  preserved,  and  the  shells  are  sometimes 
hollow. 

Locality,  Monserrate,  and  vicinity,  Bahia.  Age,  Lower  Cretaceous. 
Collectors,  Allport,  Nicolay,  Williams,  Lacerda,  and  C.  F.  H. 

Melania  Nicolayana,  sp.  nov. 

Shell  minute,  subulate,  nearly  cylindrical,  with  six  or  more 
whorls  which  are  flatter  and  more  oblique  than  in  M.  terebriformis, 
Sutures  distinct.  Surface  smooth.  Length  2£  mm. 

This  form  occurs  associated  with  the  preceding,  but  it  is  appar 
ently  a  very  rare  shell.  I  dedicate  it  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Nicolay,  to 
whom  I  am  under  many  obligations. 

Locality,  same  as  preceding.     Collector,  C.  F.  H. 

Vivipara  (Pahidina)  Lacerdce,  sp.  nov.  Geological  Journal,  Vol.  XVI. 

Plate  14,  Fig.  2. 
Shell  about  20  mm.  in  length,  ovate  conical,  usually  with  four 


GEOLOGY   OF   THE   VICINITY   OF   SAO   SALVADOR.          351 

very  ventricose  whorls  separated  by  deep  sutures,  subumbilicate, 
smooth,  shell  rather  thick. 

This  species  is  figured  by  Morris  as  above,  and  is  referred  to  by 
him  in  a  note  to  Mr.  Allport's  paper  as  having  "  a  smooth  shell 
subumbilicate,  and  showing  four  ventricose  whorls,  deeply  sutured." 
This  shell  appears  sometimes  to  have  had  a  truncated  spine  like 
our  modern  V.  excisa.  It  is  exceedingly  common  in  the  limestones 
at  Monserrate,  and  is  occasionally  found  in  the  shales.  I  have 
never  seen  it  at  Plataforma.  I  take  much  pleasure  in  associating 
with  the  species  the  name  of  my  esteemed  friend  Dr.  Antonio  de 
Lacerda. 

Collectors,  Allport,  Nicolay,  Lacerda,  C.  F.  H. 

Vivipara  (Paludina)  Williamsii,  sp.  nov. 

Shell  smaller  than  that  of  V.  Lacerdre,  from  which  it  is  also  dis 
tinguished  by  being  more  conical  and  having  whorls  much  less 
ventricose  and  shouldered.  Length  9-10  mm. 

Quite  common  with  the  preceding  species  at  Monserrate. 

Collectors,  Allport,  Williams,  Nicolay,  C.  F.  H. 

Plo.norbis  Monserratensis,  sp.  nov. 

Shell  minute,  flat  above,  concave  below,  whorls  two  and  a  half 
in  number,  flattened  from  above,  rounded,  increasing  rapidly  in 
width,  and  apparently  flaring  a  little  near  the  mouth,  which  is 
oblong,  wider  than  high.  Surface  smooth. 

This  pretty  little  shell  is  quite  common  associated  with  the 
Vivipara,  Melania,  &c.  at  Monserrate.  In  the  conglomerate  at 
Plataforma,  in  which  the  reptilian  bones  occur,  there  is  a  form 
which  much  resembles  this,  but  the  spiral  seems  more  open  and 
the  shell  is  oblique  in  outline,  apparently  from  the  rapid  widening 
of  the  body  whorl.  This  last  may  be  a  species  of  Valvata.  The 
width  of  the  shell  of  the  species  just  described  is  about  2  mm. 
Collector,  C.  F.  H. 

Unio  (Anodon  ?)  Totium-Sanctorum,  sp.  nov. 
Shell  small,  ovate-elongate,  compressed,  wider  behind  than  be- 


352  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

fore,  the  ends  and  lower  margin  forming  a  very  regular  curve, 
which  is  somewhat  straightened  below.  Hinge  line  much  shorter 
than  shell.  Umbo  quite  prominent,  strongly  and  broadly  flat 
tened  by  a  wide  and  shallow  but  well-marked  depression  which 
runs  downward  but  obliquely  backward  across  the  valves,  giving 
to  the  shell  the  appearance  of  having  two  rather  prominent  but 
wide  ridges  extending  from  each  side  of  the  umbo,  one  obliquely 
forwards  widening  and  growing  lower  toward  the  margin,  the  other 
much  more  obliquely  backwards  with  the  same  characters.  The 
shell  is  rather  thick,  and  is  marked  on  the  outside  by  numerous 
fine,  concentric  lines  or  wrinkles. 

Collectors,  Allport,  Nicolay,  and  C.  F.  H. 

During  my  last  visit  to  Bahia  I  undertook  a  careful  and 
systematic  examination  of  the  rocks  exposed  in  the  cut 
tings  along  the  Bahia  and  Sao  Francisco  Railroad,*  and  I 
walked  over  the  greater  part  of  the  line  to  Alagoinhas,  ex 
tending  my  observations  for  several  miles  beyond  among  the 
taboleiros. 

The  observations  made  on  this  excursion  I  give  in  detail, 
taking  them  with  little  change  from  my  field-book. 

The  Bahia  and  Sao  Francisco  Railroad,  leaving  the  station 
at  Jequetaia,  follows  the  low  sandy  ground  skirting  the 
gneiss  hills,  and  runs  along  the  northern  side  of  the  bay  of 
Itapagipe.  At  a  distance  of  about  two  miles  from  the  sta 
tion  at  Jequetaia  (Calgada),  on  passing  a  little  gully,  there 
are  seen  exposed  in  a  cutting  beds  of  a  loose-grained  sand 
stone  and  a  shale,  the  latter  being  of  a  greenish-gray  tint, 
and  very  finely  laminated,  but  too  much  decomposed  on  the 
surface  to  offer  anything  of  much  interest.  These  beds 

*  I  have  to  thank  Mr.  Howry,  the  superintendent  of  the  railroad,  for  a 
pass  over  the  line,  and  Messrs.  Tiplady,  Turner,  and  Orecchi  for  many  favors 
received  during  the  excursion. 


GEOLOGY   OF   THE   VICINITY   OF  SAO  SALVADOR.          353 

have  a  strike  of  about  northeast,  as  near  as  I  could  make 
out,  and  a  dip  of  a  very  few  degrees  to  the  northwest. 

Going  on  towards  the  long  bridge,  we  meet  no  beds  well 
exposed  in  the  railway  cuttings,  but  in  a  quite  deep  one  only 
a  short  distance  from  the  bridge  we  find  thick  beds  of  finely 
laminated,  dark-colored  shale,  much  decomposed,  in  which 
are  fossil  fishes  like  those  at  Monserrate,  together  with  a 
great  abundance  of  cyprids. 

Crossing  the  long  bridge,  the  land  on  the  opposite  side 
becomes  much  higher  and  more  irregular,  and  there  are 
some  heavy  cuttings,  in  which,  as  well  as  on  the  sea-shore 
at  low  tide,  the  rocks  are  very  well  exposed.  These  consist 
of  alternate  beds  of  conglomerate  and  dark  shale,  with 
occasional  layers  of  sandstone,  which  have  an  average  strike 
of  N.  60°  E.  and  a  dip  of  30°  ±  N.  W. 

The  surface  of  the  beds  of  shale,  exposed  on  the  shore  be 
tween  tides,  is  very  much  burrowed  into  by  a  marine  worm, 
which  excavates  a  tube  that  enters  the  shale  perpendicularly 
to  the  depth  of  an  inch  or  more,  and  then,  bending  round 
rather  abruptly,  comes  to  the  surface  again.  A  little  crab 
also  burrows  into  the  shale  in  places,  making  deep  tubes, 
whose  sides  are  corrugated  after  a  manner  that  makes  them 
resemble  the  empty  moulds  of  fossil  stems  of  plants  or 
corals,  and  they  are  well  calculated  to  puzzle  an  observer, 
who  did  not  know  how  they  were  formed. 

The  decomposed  shale  has  been  used  in  the  works  of  the 
Bahia  Steam  Navigation  Company  at  Itapagipe  as  a  fire 
clay,  and  Mr.  Ford,  the  chief  engineer,  —  to  whom,  by  the 
way,  I  am  indebted  for  many  kindnesses,  —  assured  me  that 
it  answered  well  for  that  purpose. 

In  the  cutting  at  Plataforma,  which  is  a  very  heavy  one, 
there  is  seen  a  thick  bed  of  shale  with  occasional  bands  of 


354  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

sandstone,  affording  fossil  fish,  and  cyprids,  over  which  lies 
a  heavy  bed  of  conglomerate.  This  is  composed  of  frag 
ments  of  the  principal  rocks  of  the  neighborhood,  presenting 
the  same  appearance  as  that  of  the  beds  whence  they  were 
derived.  The  pebbles  of  this  conglomerate,  mostly  of 
quartz  and  gneiss,  are  of  all  sizes,  even  up  to  eighteen  or 
twenty  inches  in  diameter.  They  are  but  slightly  rounded, 
and  are  more  or  less  angular.  It  appears  to  be  a  deposit 
rapidly  accumulated,  and  from  its  hardness  it  now  forms 
quite  a  high  ridge.  This  conglomerate  is  a  massive  bed, 
showing  in  itself  few  traces  of  stratification.  It  has  afforded 
a  few  reptilian  bones.  The  same  bed  makes  its  appearance 
on  the  shore  at  low  tide,  where  it  may  be  examined.  All 
these  beds  are  well  displayed  on  the  shore,  the  whole  dis 
tance  from  Plataforma  to  the  little  bay  of  Periperi,  and,  as 
the  strike  of  the  beds  is  tangcntal  to  the  curve  of  the  shore 
between  these  two  places,  and  their  dip  is  away  from  the 
shore,  they  may  be  examined  both  in  ascending  and  de 
scending  series,  and  over  a  considerable  area.  Above 
water-mark  disintegration  makes  their  examination  very 
unsatisfactory.  Below  that  line  it  has  not  obtained  to  so 
large  an  extent,  and,  save  a  thin  coating  of  half-decomposed 
material  on  the  surface,  the  rocks  are  nearly  in  their  nat 
ural  state. 

About  a  half-mile  from  Plataforma,  and  where  the  rail 
road  passes  close  to  the  water's  edge,  there  is  exposed  in  one 
place  a  section  like  that  on  the  opposite  page,  of  which  the 
height  is  about  ten  feet. 

In  many  of  the  other  beds,  especially  in  those  which  arc 
finer  in  character,  reptilian  and  other  remains  are  quite  abun 
dant  ;  but,  owing  to  the  compactness  of  the  rock,  they  are 
difficult  to  extract.  These  fossils  consist  in  spines  of  fish, 


GEOLOGY   OF   THE  VICINITY   OF   SAO   SALVADOR. 


355 


Shale. 


High-water  level. 
5    Shale. 


with  occasionally  a  vertebra,  bones  of  dinosaurians,  and  a 
few  teeth,  both  of  reptiles  and  fishes.  Of  these  reptiles' 
teeth  the  most  interesting  are  those  of  crocodiles.  These 
vertebrate  remains  are  especially  abundant  in  a  calcareous 
conglomerate,  forming  a  bed  a  foot  or  two  in  thickness,  and 
which  I  have  designated  in  the  above  section  as  a  bone-bed. 

There  are  a  few  beds  of  a  coarse  arenaceous  shale,  which 
afford  some  very  perfect  specimens  of  a  Teliostean  fish, 
apparently  different  from  the  species  found  at  Monserrate.* 
It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  this  shale,  as  well  as  some  of 
the  other  rocks  of  this  series,  are  bituminous  as  well  as  cal 
careous. 

The  reptilian  remains  from  Plataforma  and  Monserrate  I 
placed  in  the  hands  of  Professor  0.  C.  Marsh  of  Yale  Col 
lege  for  description.  The  following  with  a  few  unimportant 
omissions  is  a  notice  of  them  published  by  him  in  the  Amer 
ican  Journal  of  Science  and  Arts,  Vol.  XL VII.,  May, 
1869  :  - 

"The  most  interesting  of  the  reptilian  remains  collected  by  Pro- 

*  Several  fragments  of  the  jaws  of  fishes  have  been  found.  One  of  these, 
the  right  ramus  of  the  lower  jaw  of  a  little  Pisodus,  had  the  minute  shot- 
like  teeth  preserved.  All  the  fish  remains  from  this  locality  are  in  the  hands 
of  Professor  Agassiz.  I  regret  that  his  illness  prevents  him  from  furnishing 
descriptions  of  them  for  this  work. 


356  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

fessor  Hartt  in  the  Bahia  deposit  is  the  tooth  of  a  large  Croco 
dilian,  from  the  arenaceous  shale  near  Plataforma  station,  on  the 
Bahia  railroad.  This  specimen  is  in  an  excellent  state  of  preser 
vation,  and  indicates  a  species  new  to  science.  It  is  larger,  more 
slender,  and  more  pointed  than  the  teeth  of  existing  crocodiles, 
resembling  most  nearly  those  of  some  extinct  American  species. 
It  is  conical  in  form,  round  at  the  base,  and  slightly  compressed 
at  the  apex.  The  crown  is  two  inches  and  three  lines  in  length, 
along  the  outer  side,  and  ten  lines  in  diameter  at  the  base.  One 
edge  is  somewhat  more  convex  than  the  other,  and  this  is  also 
true  of  one  of  the  sides,  and  hence  the  tooth  appears  slightly 
curved  in  two  directions.  On  either  edge  of  the  crown  there  is 
a  sharp  ridge,  most  prominent  near  the  apex,  over  which  it  passes, 
but  gradually  disappearing  before  reaching  the  base,  resembling  in 
this  respect  the  teeth  of  Thoracosaurus,  from  which,  however,  this 
specimen  differs  in  being  longer,  and  less  curved  than  the  teeth  of 
that  genus  usually  are.  The  sides  of  the  crown  are  covered  with 
fine,  interrupted,  undulating  striae,  which  appear  to  be  different 
from  the  dental  sculpture  of  the  Crocodilia  hitherto  described. 
These  striae  are  most  distinct  near  the  middle  of  the  tooth,  be 
coming  much  more  delicate  at  the  base,  and  nearly  obliterated  at 
the  apex. 

"  In  size  and  general  appearance,  this  specimen  resembles  some 
what  the  teeth  of  Crocodilus  antiquus  Leidy,  from  the  Miocene  of 
Virginia,  but  differs  from  that  species  in  being  less  tapering,  and 
in  having  the  ridge  on  the  edges  extend  farther  downward.  It  re 
sembles  still  more  closely  the  teeth  of  a  new  species  of  crocodile 
discovered  by  the  writer  at  Squankum,  N.  J.,  in  the  tertiary 
green-sand,  which  will  soon  be  more  fully  described  under  the 
name  Thecocampsa  Squankensis  Marsh.  Both  species  have  essen 
tially  the  same  proportions,  and  similar  dental  striae,  but  the  cut 
ting  ridge  of  the  New  Jersey  specimens  is  more  prominent,  and 
extends  nearly  or  quite  to  the  base  of  the  crown.  The  two  species 
were  apparently  about  the  same  size,  both  being  considerably 
larger  than  existing  Crocodilians. 


GEOLOGY   OF   THE   VICINITY   OF   SiO   SALVADOR.          357 

"  Other  parts  of  the  skeleton  of  the  Brazilian  species  would  per 
haps  show  generic  characters  to  distinguish  it  from  the  modern 
proccclian  crocodiles,  but  in  the  absence  of  these,  it  may  for  the 
present  be  placed  in  the  same  genus.  Its  form,  cutting  edges,  and 
especially  its  peculiar  striae,  readily  distinguish  it  from  any  species 
with  which  it  is  liable  to  be  confounded,  and  it  may  appropriately 
be  named  Crocodilus  ffarttii,  in  honor  of  its  discoverer,  whose 
recent  researches  have  thrown  so  much  light  on  the  geology  of 
Brazil. 

"  Several  specimens  of  reptilian  teeth  collected  by  Mr.  Allport 
at  Montserrate,  a  locality  in  the  same  deposit  about  two  miles 
southwest  of  Plataforma  station,  evidently  belong  to  this  species, 
as  the  illustrations  accompanying  his  paper  (Plate  xvi.,  figures  1, 
2,  3,  and  5)  clearly  indicate.  The  explanation  of  the  plate  refers 
to  the  specimens  as,  '  Teeth  of  crocodile  with  delicately  wrinkled 
surface,'  but  no  further  description  is  given. 

"  In  the  same  paper  Mr.  Allport  has  given  figures  of  several 
Crocodilian  teeth  from  the  localities  at  Plataforma  and  Montser 
rate,  which  are  quite  different  from  those  above  described.  These 
are  represented  in  Plate  xv.,  figure  5,  and  Plate  xvi.,  figures  4,  6, 
7,  and  8,  and  are  referred  to  on  page  268  as,  '  Teeth  of  crocodile 
with  strong  continuous  striae,  and  coarse  riblets.'  These  speci 
mens,  taken  in  connection  with  some  imperfect  remains  in  the 
collection  made  by  Professor  Hartt,  indicate  the  existence  in  this 
deposit  of  a  second  and  smaller  species  of  Crocodile,  probably 
allied  to  the  modern  gavials.  The  teeth  are  not  so  large  as  those 
of  Crocodilus  Harttii,  and  are  more  tapering  and  more  curved. 
They  also  differ  widely  in  the  striae  and  lateral  folds.  These  spe 
cimens  may  provisionally  be  referred  to  the  genus  Thoracosaurus, 
and,  as  the  species  is  evidently  new,  it  may  be  called  T.  Bahiensis. 

"  An  interesting  fossil,  found  by  Professor  Hartt  at  Plataforma 
station,  is  a  fragment  of  a  bone,  evidently  reptilian,  but  the  exact 
affinities  of  which  it  is  difficult  to  determine  from  this  specimen 
alone.  It  resembles  in  some  respects  the  extremity  of  an  ulna, 


358  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

but  after  a  careful  comparison  the  writer  is  inclined  to  consider  it 
the  proximal  end  of  a  rib.  It  is  much  flattened  at  the  articular 
extremity,  and  tapers  gradually  to  the  broken  end,  which  is  some 
what  triangular  in  outline.  Its  length  is  about  four  inches,  the 
transverse  diameter  of  the  perfect  end  two  and  a  half  inches,  and 
of  the  other,  one  and  a  quarter  inches.  The  larger  extremity  is 
divided  into  two  articular  facets  lying  oblique  to  each  other,  the 
smaller  one  being  elevated  about  half  an  inch  above  the  other,  and 
covering  rather  more  than  a  third  of  the  entire  terminal  surface. 
In  form  and  general  proportions  this  specimen  is  not  unlike  the 
upper  end  of  a  right  dorsal  rib  of  some  of  the  amphiccelian  croc 
odiles,  especially  a  rib  in  which  the  head  and  tubercle  have  so 
closely  approached  each  other  that  their  articular  surfaces  are 
nearly  confluent.  The  size  and  other  characters  of  the  specimen, 
however,  seem  to  exclude  it  from  that  order,  and  it  probably  be 
longed  to  a  Dinosaurian  reptile,  possibly  the  same  as  a  large 
vertebra  from  Monserrate,  which  Mr.  Allport  figured  in  his  paper 
in  Plate  xvn.,  and  which  Professor  Owen  suggested  might  prove  to 
be  allied  to  Megalosaurus. 

"  The  only  other  specimen  in  this  collection  that  need  be  par 
ticularly  mentioned  here  is  a  small  flat  bone,  about  two  inches  in 
length,  with  one  articular  extremity  partially  preserved.  This 
appears  to  resemble  most  nearly  the  fibula  of  a  tortoise,  and 
probably  should  be  referred  to  that  group  of  reptiles." 

I  have  not  yet  observed  at  this  point  any  of  the  species  of 
Melania  and  Vivipara  of  Monserrate.  In  some  of  the  beds, 
however,  a  minute  gasteropod  is  very  abundant,  and  a  unio- 
likc  shell  also  occurs,  though  somewhat  rarely.  These, 
with  the  estherians,  point  to  a  fresh-water  origin  for  these 
beds,  while  the  alternations  of  shales  with  sandstones  and 
conglomerates  show  that  there  were  intervals  of  quiet  depo 
sition  of  fine  material  with  times  when  currents  spread 
coarse  material  over  their  surface. 


GEOLOGY   OF   THE   VICINITY   OF   SAO   SALVADOR. 


359 


This  locality,  to  a  patient  and  painstaking  collector,  would 
yield  a  fine  harvest. 

From  Periperi  to  Matto  de  Sao  Joao  I  went  over  the  rail 
road  several  times  both  by  cars  and  with  a  trolly  ;  but  I 
have  had  an  opportunity  of  examining  a  few  points  between 
these  two  stations,  and  with  the  aid  of  the  information  of 
my  friend,  Mr.  Tiplady,  the  engineer  of  the  first  section  of 
the  railroad,  and  to  whom  I  am  much  indebted  for  aid  and 
hospitality,  I  am  able  to  give  the  following  observations. 

At  the  tunnel  at  Periperi  the  rocks  consist  of  shale  and 
sandstone,  with  a  slight  northward  dip,  and  contain  but  few 
fossils. 

Between  Olaria  and  Mapelle  stations  there  are  heavy  beds 
of  shale  and  sandstone,  the  latter  a  rather  soft,  bluish  kind, 
which  is  quarried  for  building  purposes  along  the  railway. 
It  is  not  very  durable,  as  it  weathers  very  rapidly.  Fossils 
are  very  rare  in  it.  The  tunnel  at  Mapelle  is  through  shale, 
the  dip  being  northward  and  slight. 

At  a  place  called  Cotigipe,  between  Mapelle  and  the  next 
station,  Agua  Comprida,  thick  beds  of  shale  and  conglom 
erate  are  cut  through. 


a.  Shale,     b.  Conglomerate. 

In  the  shale  of  bed,  a,  of  the  above  diagram,  which  varies 
much  in  character  from  a  thin,  soft,  black,  almost  papyra 
ceous  shale  to  a  coarser  greenish  variety,  fish  remains  and 
perfect  fishes  are  quite  common,  but  they  appear  to  be  of 
the  same  species  that  is  found  at  Monserrate  ;  together  with 
these  occur  bones  and  teeth  of  reptiles,  and  an  abundance 


360  GEOLOGY   AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

of  cyprids.  I  have  collected  nothing  from  the  conglom 
erates.  The  dip  of  the  beds  is  northeast,  at  a  small  angle. 
Thus  far  the  country  has  been  irregular,  the  hills  being 
rather  angular  in  their  outline,  and  presenting  altogether 
different  topographical  features  from  those  of  the  gneiss 
regions.  The  cretaceous  hills  here  are  generally  round 
topped,  with  long  slopes. 

Passing  Agua  Comprida,  at  Sapucaia,  there  are  several 
cuttings  through  shale,  and  here  we  find  the  conglomerate 
in  the  hills  on  the  west  side  of  the  road.  Farther  on  no 
more  of  this  rock  is  seen  on  the  line.  At  Moritiba  are 
found  beds  of  sandstone  of  the  same  series,  but  their  dip, 
according  to  Mr.  Tiplady,  is  south.  There  are  here  some 
horizontal  beds  of  pinkish  sands  of  a  much  later  formation. 

Cutting  No.  82,  not  far  from  Moritiba,  is  through  a  heavy 
bed  of  red  clayey  sand,  sometimes  used  for  moulding  in  the 
railroad  foundry  at  Periperi.  This  bed  is  quite  horizontal, 
and  appears  to  belong  to  the  same  series  as  the  sands  to 
be  described  farther  on. 

Just  before  reaching  the  Rio  Johannes  there  is  a  cutting 
through  decomposed  gneiss.  Mr.  Tiplady  informed  me 
that  in  the  river-bed,  a  few  rods  above  the  railroad,  the 
gneiss  is  exposed,  while  the  rocks  below  the  railroad  are 
sandstones.  In  this  vicinity  the  hills  are  rounded  and  more 
or  less  dome-shaped,  yet  not  more  than  two  to  three  hun 
dred  feet  high ;  but  in  going  on  towards  Parafuso  they 
become  lower,  and  the  surface  is  rolling.  At  Parafuso 
there  is  a  long,  low  cutting,  in  which  I  made  the  following 
section. 


GEOLOGY    OF   THE   VICINITY    OF   SAO   SALVADOR.  361 

The  lower  bed  consists  of  a  soft,  yellowish  sandstone, 
with  beautiful  oblique  lamination.  I  have  looked  long  and 
carefully  in  this  and  other  similar  localities  for  fossils  in 
these  sandstones,  but  without  success.  Over  this  bed, 
which  is  quite  horizontal,  lies  a  thin  sheet  of  hard,  red 
iron-stone,  and  over  this  a  bed  of  clay  and  pebbles. 

In  cuttings  8,  9,  and  10  of  the  Third  Section,  which  are 
through  long  and  low  banks,  are  seen  similar  beds  of  light 
pink-colored  sand,  slightly  consolidated,  and  showing  beau 
tiful  false  bedding. 

At  Camassari  I  spent  several  hours  in  an  examination  of 
the  vicinity.  The  station  stands  on  a  plain  composed  of  the 
sands  just  described,  over  the  surface  of  which  is  spread  a 
sheet  of  clayey  gray  or  white  sand,  often  containing  pebbles 
and  broken  pieces  of  rock.  In  the  vicinity  are  a  few  low 
hills,  composed  of  beds  of  arenaceous  pinkish  and  white- 
mottled  clays,  and  sandstones  which  vary  much  in  charac 
ter,  being  sometimes  soft  and  pinkish  in  color,  while  at 
others  they  are  cemented  by  ferric  oxide,  dark  red,  and  very 
hard.  These  beds  are  horizontal  and  very  thick,  and  be 
long  to  the  great  coast  tertiary  formation.  In  some  places 
they  lie  in  an  unbroken  sheet,  except  by  rivers,  forming  very 
extensive  elevated  plains,  like  the  sertoes  and  chapadas  of 
Sao  Matheos,  the  Mucury,  and  elsewhere  along  the  coast ; 
but  sometimes,  as  on  the  Bahia  Railroad,  they  are  denuded 
in  such  a  way  as  to  form  deep  and  wide  valleys,  in  which 
stand  isolated  hills  that  rise  abruptly  from,  or  rather  pierce 
through,  the  thick  beds  of  sands  and  clays  formed  from 
their  debris,  and  which  occupy  the  bottom  of  the  valley. 
In  the  denudation  of  these  horizontal  tertiary  beds  the  ten 
dency  is  to  form,  at  first,  a  mass  with  a  flat  top,  and  sides 
steep  and  abrupt,  as  represented  in  the  following  diagram. 

VOL.    I.  16 


362  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

X  \ 


Such  is  the  character  of  the  slopes  that  border  valleys. 
These  are  rarely  perpendicular,  and  are  almost  always 
covered  by  vegetation.  When,  however,  the  sea  or  a  river 
washes  the  foot  of  a  slope,  it  is  always  perpendicular ;  as 
is  the  case  with  the  red  clay  cliffs,  which  at  intervals  gird 
the  shore  of  Brazil,  from  the  Amazonas  to  Rio.  As  the 
valleys  widen  and  approach  one  another,  the  hills  preserve 
the  same  topographical  features,  and  we  may  find  all  grada 
tions  between  the  broad  chapada,  the  narrow  hill  with  its 
flat  top,  and  the  roof-shaped  or  conical  hill.  These  de 
tached  hills  are  called  oiteiros,  or  taboleiros.  At  Camassan 
the  topography  of  these  hills  may  be  easily  examined.  The 
valley  here  is  quite  wide,  and  there  are  a  great  many  small 
scattered  hills,  that  rise  like  islands  from  the  plain.  I  ob 
served  that  most  of  the  hills  had  rather  a  long  smooth  slope 
to  the  east,  and  an  abrupt  one  to  the  west.  The  hills 
are  covered  thickly  with  fragments  of  rocks.  This  seems 
a  little  singular,  because  it  is  not  owing  to  the  dip  of  the 
beds,  for.  as  already  said,  they  are  horizontal.  I  have 
questioned  whether  it  might  not  be  in  some  way  due  to 
glacial  action.  The  wrhole  hill,  in  every  case,  was  once 
covered  with  a  sheet  of  clay  and  fragments  of  rock,  as  I 
shall  describe  more  fully  hereafter.  The  finer  materials  of 
this  superficial  coating  have  been  washed  from  the  steeper 
slope,  leaving  the  coarser  masses  behind,  while  on  the  long 
slope  these  last  still  lie  buried  below  the  surface.  The 
sands  occupying  the  valleys  are  not  deposited  horizontally, 
but  form  a  series  of  sand-banks  sloping  more  or  less  gradu 
ally  toward  the  middle  of  the  valley.  The  surface  is  not  a 


GEOLOGY   OF   THE  VICINITY   OF   SAO  SALVADOR.          363 

plain,  but  rolling.  The  following  is  the  outline  of  the 
country  across  the  hills  from  Camassari  station,  going 
west  for  a  little  more  than  a  mile.  It  is  intended  to  show 
the  topographical  features  of  the  older  tertiary  hills  and 
sand  plains. 


CAMASSARI 


a.  Tertiary  clays  and  sandstones.  b.  Sands. 

While  at  Camassari  station  a  man  brought  in  a  mule-load 
of  "  Tabatinga,"  *  or  pure  milk-white  feldspathic  clay,  which 
he  said  came  from  not  far  off,  probably  from  a  bed  inter- 
stratified  with  the  sands.  The  material  is  exceedingly 
fine  and  chalky,  and  becomes  a  pure  white  clay  on  wetting. 
It  is  used  instead  of  lime  for  whitewashing  walls.  This 
Tabatinga  clay  is  also  found  in  the  tertiary  beds  of  the 
coast,  where  it  is  often  pinkish  or  yellowish  in  color.  I 
had  observed  the  same  material,  as  a  cement  to  the  super 
ficial  sands  and  gravel,  in  the  cuttings  in  the  vicinity  of 
Camassari. 

Leaving  Camassarf  and  crossing  the  taboleiros  f  one  soon 
enters  the  hills,  which  are  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  or 
more  in  height,  composed  of  the  tertiary  sandstone  and  clays 
above  described,  and  have  some  of  their  sides  strown  with 
large  blocks  of  the  red  sandstone.  A  long  cutting  through 
a  heavy  bed  of  quartz  gravel,  of  which  the  cement  appears 
to  be  sand  and  clay,  is  soon  reached,  and  one  then  goes 
on  to  another  sand  plain,  which  is  more  extensive  than 

*  This  word  is  of  Tupi  origin,  and  is  derived  from  the  two  words,  Taud, 
clay,  and  tinga,  white.     Tabatinga  is  a  corruption, 
t  This  word  is  also  applied  to  the  plains. 


364        GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL  GEOGRAPHY. 

that  first  described.  Another  bed  of  gravel  is  seen  at  a 
place  called  Embira  Branca,  and  farther  on,  when  fairly 
out  on  the  taboleiros,  at  a  place  called  As  Pedras,  there 
is  what  appears  to  be  an  old  beach,  composed  of  rounded 
quartz  pebbles,  filled  in  with  snow-white  sand.  The  beach 
is  irregular  in  outline,  and  presents  many  projecting  points. 
The  surface  of  the  sand,  which  is  almost  level,  abuts  against 
this  gravel  bank,  and  lies  in  the  indentations  in  its  outline, 
like  a  sheet  of  water.  Just  here  this  gravel  is  naked,  but 
not  far  distant  it  is  covered  by  a  dark  grayish  soil,  similar 
to  that  which  covers  the  taboleiros.  It  appears  to  have 
been  washed  off  here. 


a.  Sand  and  soil.  6.  Gravel. 

A  little  farther  on  we  find  a  cutting  in  which  a  cap  of 
gravel  is  seen  overlying  the  sand. 


a.  Gravel.  b.  Sands. 

Thence  to  the  river  Imbugahi  the  land  slopes  very  grad 
ually,  and  for  miles  on  each  side  of  the  railroad  is  remark- 
bly  even,  being  interrupted  only  by  the  isolated  tertiary 
hills  that  show  themselves  above  the  surface  of  the  sands. 
From  the  ImbuQahi  to  Feira  Velha  the  sands  rise  with 
a  very  gentle  slope.  On  this  side  they  are  bounded  by 
tertiary  hills  and  chapadas,  some  of  which  are  roof-shaped 
ridges. 


GEOLOGY   OF   THE   VICINITY   OF   SAO   SALVADOR.          365 

Both  at  Camassari  and  on  the  Imbuc.ahi  the  sands  are 
barren,  and  form  slightly  rolling  plains,  supporting  only 
a  scanty  vegetation,  which  consists  of  several  species  of 
grasses,  and  a  multitude  of  small  flowering  plants.  Trees 
are  very  few.  In  the  lower  grounds,  where  moisture  gath 
ers,  and  where  there  are  in  some  places  streams,  a  long 
coarse  grass  grows  most  luxuriantly.  A  quarter  of  a  mile 
south  of  the  Imb^ahi  is  such  a  grass-covered  area,  and 
here  excavations  by  the  side  of  the  railroad  show  that  a  bed 
of  peat  has  accumulated,  which  is  two  feet  thick  in  some 
places. 

Leaving  the  taboleiros  we  enter  a  valley  among  the  hills, 
which  are  at  first  low,  but  become  higher  farther  on.  They 
belong  to  the  tertiary  series,  are  often  very  irregular  in  shape, 
and  about  350  feet  in  relative  height.  As  we  go  up  the  valley 
it  narrows  more  and  more.  The  bottom  is  occupied  by  beds 
of  sands  and  clays,  which  form  a  series  of  undulations 
whose  outlines  are  in  contrast  with  those  of  the  bordering 
hills,  as  exhibited  in  the  following  diagram. 


a.  Tertiary  clays  and  sandstones.  b.  Sands. 

In  order  to  illustrate  the  structure  of  these  lower  grounds, 
I  will  describe  what  is  seen  in  a  number  of  railway  excava 
tions  in  this  valley. 

Two  cuttings  towards  Bahia  of  a  cutting  called  Jacu- 
merim,  the  road  just  pares  away  the  southern  side  of  a 
low  hill,  about  twenty-five  to  thirty  feet  high,  as  seen  in 
the  following  sketch. 


366 


GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL    GEOGRAPHY. 


Tertiary-. 


This  liill  is  composed  of  sand,  which  is  exposed  for  a 
depth  of  twenty  feet.  The  same  material  forms  the  lower 
ground  alongside.  The  hills  in  the  background  are  com 
posed  of  the  tertiary  clays  and  sands.  The  most  interest 
ing  feature  exhibited  in  this  section  is  a  sheet  of  fragments 
of  red  sandstone  from  the  tertiary  hills  extending  under 
the  soil  over  the  surface  of  the.  sands,  not  only  on  the  low 
ground,  but  also  over  the  whole  hill. 

The  following  cut  represents  a  section  across  this  same 
hill,  but  at  right  angles  to  the  first.  The  boulders  of  sand- 


a.  Soil  containing  pebbles  and  boulders  of  sandstone. 

b.  Stratified  sands. 

stone  are  here  seen  scattered  over  the  low  flat  by  the  side 
of  the  railroad.  These  boulders  must  have  come  from  the 
adjacent  tertiary  hills. 

Going  up  the  road  we  soon  come  to  another  cutting  in 
which  a  sheet  of  gravel  overlying  a  bed  of  yellow  sands  is 
exposed,  as  seen  in  diagram  on  preceding  page.  This  gravel 
consists  of  large,  well-rounded  pebbles  of  quartz  or  decom 
posed  syenite,  with  a  white  paste.  In  the  next  cutting, 
Jacumerim,  we  see  the  following  section. 


GEOLOGY   OF   THE   VICINITY   OF   SAO   SALVADOR. 


The  pebbles  in  the  gravel  are  of  the  same  kind  as  those 
just  described.  They  are  very  large,  the  material  being 
rather  a  coarse  shingle,  and  they  are  very  closely  packed. 
Over  this  elevation,  as  in  the  other,  is  still  seen  the  layer 
of  broken  pieces  of  sandstone,  and  the  same  may  be  exam 
ined  in  the  next  cutting,  which  is  a  very  instructive  one. 


SECTION   AT    CAMPO. 

a.  Fine  brick-red  clayey  sand,  in  some  places  with  scarcely  consistence  enough 
to  be  moulded ;   in  others  very  clayey. 

b.  Whitish  and  yellowish  sand. 

c.  Soft  white  sands,  no  consistency  under  pressure.    A  thin  streak  or  two  in  the 
lower  part  of  this  bed  is  consolidated. 

d.  White  or  reddish  sands. 

e.  An  irregular  mass  of  boulders,  of  dark  red  tertiary  sandstone,  some  of  which 
are  three  to  four  feet  in  diameter. 

In  this  diagram  the  dip  is  exaggerated.  At  the  post 
marking  ten  leagues  from  the  city  of  Bahia  is  a  long  low 
cutting,  and  in  a  trench  by  the  roadside  a  stiff  sandy  clay, 
mottled  with  dark  red  and  white,  and  overlaid  by  a  dark 
brown  sandy  soil. 

Between  this  point  and  Matta  station  there  is  much 
swampy  ground  bordering  the  road  at  intervals,  and  on  this 
great  numbers  of  piassaba  palms  grow. 


368  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

A  very  interesting  section  occurs  in  a  cut  about  a  mile 
and  a  half  below  Matta  station.  The  gravel  sheet  here  is 
very  thick,  —  ten  feet,  more  or  less,*  —  and  is  irregularly  and 
obliquely  stratified,  and  mixed  with  layers  of  sand,  as  if  the 
whole  had  been  laid  down  by  a  current  coming  from  the  north. 
The  sheet  is  very  irregular,  and  varies  much  in  thickness. 

Matta  station,  and  the  village  of  Matta  de  Sao  Joa'o,  are 
situated  on  a  plain,  formed  by  the  widening  of  the  valley 
which  the  railroad  follows.  The  tertiary  hills  still  border 
it,  and  these  are,  in  some  cases,  much  denuded. 

Above  Matta,  at  the  cutting  at  the  fazenda  of  Coronel  Si- 
puda,  there  is  a  decayed,  fine-grained  sandstone  or  arenaceous 
shale  seen,  probably  cretaceous,  and  thence  on  to  Pitanga 
station,  rocks  of  the  same  general  character.  Just  below 
the  station  at  Pitanga  I  made  the  following  section. 


a.  Sandstone. 

b.  Shale,  slightly  arenaceous. 

c.  Shale ;  very  argillaceous,  and  so  soft  as  to  be  easily  moulded  by  the  hand.   De 
composed,  it  is  of  a  gray  or  light  slate-color,  with  bright  red  patches.     It  contains 
apparently  the  same  Estherian  found  at  Pojuca  tunnel,  to  be  presently  described. 

(/and  e.    Shale  decomposing  yellow  and  red. 

f.  Sandstone;  soft  and  ochre  yellow. 

g.  Shnle  decomposed  to  a  pink  and  white  clay. 
A.    Sandstone. 

k.   Layer  of  concretionary  iron-stone  a  foot  or  two  in  thickness.    The  surface  is 
very  irregular,  and  some  of  the  projecting  knobs  have  a  sort  of  septaria  structure- 
m.   White  sandstone. 
n.   Layer  of  iron-stone. 

o.  White  tabatinga,  with  red  iron-stone  nodules. 
p.   Decomposed  shale. 
q.   Sandstone  (soft).    The  dip  is  exaggerated  in  this  section. 

The  railroad  here  skirts  a  flat  along  which  flows  the  Rio 

*  I  have  omitted  to  note  it  exactly. 


GEOLOGY   OF   THE  VICINITY   OF   SAO   SALVADOR.          369 

Pitanga,  which  a  short  distance  below  the  station  expands 
into  a  large  pond.  At  the  head  of  this  pond  I  found  a 
gentleman  with  six  men  washing  for  diamonds.  An  ex 
cavation  several  yards  square  had  been  made  in  the  flat 
alluvial  ground.  The  lowest  stratum  seen  was  a  stiff  blue 
clay,  called  by  the  miners  pizarra,  over  this  was  a  sheet  of 
a  few  inches  in  thickness  of  cascalho,  or  gravel  composed 
principally  of  quartz  and  fragments  of  the  different  rocks  of 
the  neighborhood,  this  cascalho  being  mixed  with  a  mottled 
reddish  clay.  This  was  the  stratum  from  which  the  diamonds 
were  washed.  Over  the  cascalho  was  a  thin  stratum  of  clay. 
The  washers  were  seated  on  benches  level  with  the  water  of 
a  little  pond ;  a  portion  of  the  gravel  was  thrown  into  a 
large  shallow  wooden  pan,  water  was  mixed  with  it,  and 
the  pan  with  its  contents  was  whirled  about  on  the  surface 
of  the  pond,  the  muddy  water  being  allowed  to  escape  until 
only  the  gravel  and  sand  remained.  This  was  now  placed 
in  a  sort  of  sieve,  the  bottom  of  which  was  made  of  copper, 
pierced  with  round  holes  about  an  inch  in  diameter,  which 
allowed  all  the  little  pebbles  and  sand  to  pass  through. 
Not  long  since,  at  one  of  the  Brazilian  diamond  washings, 
a  diamond  too  large  to  pass  through  the  openings  of  the 
sieve  was  found  in  the  heap  of  coarse  refuse.  It  had 
been  picked  up  by  a  child  as  a  plaything.  After  washing, 
the  pebbles  are  picked  out,  when  the  overseer,  looking 
carefully  over  the  sand,  selects  the  diamonds  with  ease, 
should  there  be  any  ;  but  during  the  weeks  which  they 
washed  at  Pitanga  only  five  minute  stones  had  been  found. 
A  few  years  ago  quite  extensive  washings  were  carried 
on  beside  the  river  nearer  the  station,  and  a  large  num 
ber  of  fine  stones  were  discovered ;  but  the  owner  of  the 
land  has  put  a  stop  to  further  operations.  On  the  west  side 

16*  X 


370  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

of  the  railroad  I  visited  some  other  old  washings,  from 
which  diamonds  had  been  obtained.  I  found  that  they  had 
been  dug  from  the  cascalho  or  gravel  sheet  on  the  slope  of 
the  hill  near  the  river,  which  gravel  was  covered  with  the 
common  red  drift-clay  of  the  vicinity.  I  take  this  gravel  to 
be  drift.  The  diamonds  appear  to  me  to  come  from  the 
tertiary  beds  of  the  neighboring  hills,  and  this  seems  to 
be  the  opinion  of  Mr.  Nicolay,  who  shows  that  the  diamonds 
of  the  Chapada  Diamantina  come  from  a  conglomerate  and 
sandstone,  which,  from  his  descriptions  and  specimens,  ap 
pears  to  be  a  tertiary  rock  of  the  same  kind  as  that  which 
forms  the  chapadas  of  the  valley  of  the  Jequitinhonha.  Mr. 
Nicolay  says  that  the  cascalho  in  the  vicinity  of  Bahia  dif 
fers  from  that  of  the  chapada,  in  that  it  is  more  siliceous 
and  less  metaliferous.  There  is  no  Itacolumito  in  the 
vicinity  of  Pitanga.  The  gravel  is  made  up  principally  of 
fragments  of  quartz  and  of  pebbles  of  a  sandstone  like  that 
of  the  tertiary  chapada,  though  somewhat  harder  than  the 
kind  usually  seen  along  the  road.  I  do  not  believe  that  the 
diamond  ever  occurs  in  the  true  palaeozoic  Itacolumite  in 
Brazil,  but  that  it  is  derived  from  the  tertiary  sandstones. 

At  a  sugar  fazenda  beyond  Pitanga  there  is  a  cutting 
under  a  bridge  across  the  railroad,  and  in  a  gully  made  by 
the  rain  I  found  a  shale  full  of  cypris,  and  evidently  creta 
ceous.  The  beds  appear  to  be  horizontal,  or  with  a  slight 
inclination  southward.  The  overlying  soil  here  is  red 
mottled  with  white. 

The  next  cuttings  are  not  very  satisfactory,  and  appear 
to  be  through  decomposed  sandstones  and  shales. 

I  introduce  a  sketch  here  to  give  some  idea  of  the  topog 
raphy,  and  of  the  general  appearance  of  the  tertiary  hills 
bordering  the  valley  on  the  west,  just  below  the  tunnel. 


GEOLOGY    OF   THE   VICINITY    OF    SAO   SALVADOR. 


TERTIARY   HILLS   NEAR   POJUCA   TUNNEL. 

The  sandstone  which  to  some  extent,  at  least,  forms  the 
chapadas  of  the  vicinity  is  a  somewhat  soft,  coarse-grained, 
reddish  and  mottled  kind,  with  an  argillaceous  cement.  It 
has  been  occasionally  used  on  the  railroad  for  building  pur 
poses,  but  it  cannot  be  very  durable. 

A  ridge  crosses  the  railroad,  and  a  tunnel  ("  Pojuca  tun 
nel  ")  is  made  necessary.  This  ridge  runs  nearly  north- 
south,  and  is  composed  mainly  of  cretaceous  strata,  which, 
according  to  information  received  from  Mr.  Turner,  en 
gineer  of  this  section  of  the  road,  have  a  high  westward  dip. 
In  the  cutting  at  the  eastern  entrance  to  the  tunnel  hori 
zontal  beds  of  a  soft  brown  sandstone  are  exposed,  and 
this  is  so  soft  as  to  be  easily  crumbled  by  the  hand.  In  this 
occurs  a  bed,  fifteen  centm.  in  thickness,  of  a  yellow  clay 
(decomposed  shale  ?)  in  which  I  have  found  a  few  Esthe- 
rians.  The  stuff  thrown  out  of  the  tunnel  is  a  bright  bluish, 
very  soft  shale,  containing  fish  remains,  together  with  a 
finely  laminated  blue-gray  sandstone,  also  containing  fish 
remains  and  fragments  of  plants.  I  did  not  see  these 
strata  in  place. 


372  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL    GEOGRAPHY. 

In  the  cutting  at  the  western  entrance  are  thick  beds  of 
shale  and  sandstone,  so  decomposed  that  their  character 
cannot  well  be  determined.  The  strike,  as  near  as  I  could 
make  it  out,  is  N.  65°  E.  and  dip  73°  S.  E.,  but  it  is  to  be 
remembered  that  Mr.  Turner  says  that  in  the  tunnel  the 
dip  is  W.  The  beds  of  the  tunnel  and  western  entrance 
are  cretaceous,  I  think.  Those  at  the  east  end  appear  to 
overlie  the  cretaceous  beds  unconformably,  and  may  be  ter 
tiary  ;  but  I  would  not  speak  positively,  on  account  of 
the  great  difficulty  of  recognizing  some  of  these  rocks 
when  they  are  decomposed.  This  ridge  is  covered  with  red 
drift. 

From  Pojuca  to  Sitio  Novo  I  have  been  over  the  road 
in  the  train  several  times,  but  I  was  prevented  from  ex 
amining  the  rest  of  the  road  on  foot,  because  of  the  rain. 
From  Sitio  Novo  to  Alagoinhas  I  went  over  the  road  in  a 
trolly,  but  in  rain  and  under  unfavorable  circumstances. 
Soon  after  leaving  Pojuca  the  valley  becomes  narrower. 
The  railroad  follows  its  bottom,  so  that  there  are  no  rocks 
exposed,  and  the  cuttings  are  of  very  little  interest.  The 
low  lands  are  very  fertile,  and  are  here  and  there  covered 
by  forest,  though  they  are  planted  to  a  considerable  extent 
with  sugar-cane. 

As  for  the  lands  of  Bahia,  those  of  the  gneiss  are  fat, 
deep,  and  exceedingly  fertile ;  the  slopes  are  generally 
somewhat  steep,  and  in  the  southern  part  of  the  province 
they  are  favorable  for  coffee.  The  soils  of  the  cretaceous 
along  the  railroad  are  rich  ;  but  the  rains  make  fearful 
havoc  with  them,  carrying  them  away  completely  after  a 
few  years  of  cultivation,  leaving  them  barren,  as  is  the 
case  over  large  tracts  along  the  railroad.  Of  the  low  lands, 
those  bordering  the  rivers  are  very  fertile.  The  tertiary 


GEOLOGY   OF   THE   VICINITY   OF   SiO   SALVADOR.          373 

high  lands  are  sometimes  valuable  on  the  slopes,  but  above, 
as  a  general  thing,  they  are  dry  and  barren.  The  taboleiros 
are  useless,  except  for  grazing.  Immense  tracts  along  the 
railroad  are  allowed  to  grow  up  with  the  piassaba  palm. 
Considerable  difficulty  has  been  experienced  by  the  engi 
neers,  in  different  parts  of  the  road,  from  the  instability 
of  the  rocks,  and  the  liability  of  their  sliding  on  one 
another,  especially  when  the  shale  beds  become  wet.  In 
one  case,  where  the  beds  dipped  with  the  slope  of  a  hill 
toward  the  railway,  the  upper  beds  over  a  considerable 
area  slid  down  some  distance,  throwing  the  track  out  of 
shape. 

The  Pojuca  tunnel  caved  in  from  the  same  reason,  about 
two  years  ago.  Some  distance  south  of  Alagoinhas  the 
valley  opens  out  and  an  extensive  series  of  taboleiros  is 
reached,  in  the  middle  of  which  is  the  station  of  Alagoin- 
has.  I  made  a  long  detour  over  these  taboleiros  on  foot, 
and  found  them  to  be  essentially  like  those  at  Camassari. 
They  were  great,  gently  undulating  plains  of  sand,  scat 
tered  about  over  which  were  irregular  isolated  hills  of  the 
horizontal  tertiary  clays  and  sandstones.  The  cutting  at 
the  terminus  of  the  railroad  is  a  long  one,  about  five  feet 
deep,  through  white  clayey  sands,  under  which  is  the  ever- 
appearing  pebble  line. 

In  a  cutting  for  a  road  through  a  slight  elevation  near 
the  station,  I  saw  beds  of  clayey  sand  slightly  consistent  and 
of  a  white  or  pinkish  color.  Here  the  Saiiba  ants  had 
formed  immense  mounds  of  a  clayey  sand  of  a  warm  pink 
ish  tint,  the  material  having  been  brought  up  from  a  con 
siderable  depth  by  these  busy  creatures  in  the  excavation 
of  their  galleries. 

The  village  of  Alagoinhas  is  on  the  sand  plains,  about  a 


374  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

league  eastward  of  the  station  of  the  same  name.  The 
surface  of  the  plains  is  not  level,  and  there  are  differences 
of  elevation  amounting  to  fifty  feet  more  or  less,  but  the 
slopes  are  very  long,  exceedingly  smooth  and  even,  and  as 
a  general  thing  their  direction  is  from  the  hills  towards  the 
centre  of  the  plain.  The  surface  is  loose  white  sand,  of 
course  a  most  unfertile  soil.  The  vegetation  of  the  sand 
plains  and  taboleiros  differs  in  the  most  marked  way  from 
that  of  the  soil-covered  hills.  Trees  are  few,  scattered,  small, 
and  very  often  with  rough  bark,  and  stiff  and  contorted 
branches.  One'  of  the  most  conspicuous  of  them  is  the 
Carahyba,  a  tree  about  twenty  feet  in  height,  which  is  scat 
tered  all  over  the  plains. 

The  Murici  (Byrsonima)  is  a  small  scrubby  tree,  about 
eight  feet  high,  with  bunches  of  large  elliptical  leaves  cov 
ered  with  hairs  like  the  mullein  borne  at  the  ends  of  the 
branches.  The  fruit  is  about  the  size  of  a  large  cherry, 
yellow,  very  fragrant  and  much  esteemed.  The  Mangaba 
(Hamornia  speciosa)  is  another  small  tree,  with  weep 
ing  branches  and  small  leaves.  Its  fruit  is  of  the  size  of 
a  plum,  and  very  delicious.  The  Perico  is  a  bush  produ 
cing  a  fruit  as  large  as  a  gooseberry,  and  very  pleasant  to 
the  taste.  The  Bahianos  are  fond  of  it,  and  in  the  season 
of  fruitage  the  berries  are  sold  in  large  quantities  in  the 
city. 

A  small  tree  called  Sambahiba  is  remarkable  for  its 
curled  leaves,  the  upper  side  of  which  is  so  rough  and 
hard  as  to  scratch  wood  like  sandpaper.  The  Janahuba  is 
a  characteristic  shrub  of  the  taboleiros,  and  it  is  noteworthy 
on  account  of  bearing  at  the  end  of  its  stem  a  cluster  of 
large  leaves,  giving  out  an  abundant  milky  sap  when  broken. 
Among  the  other  common  plants  of  the  taboleiros  one  ob- 


GEOLOGY   OF   THE   VICINITY   OF   SAO   SALVADOR.          375 

serves  the  Alecrim,  with  its  fragrant  leaves ;  the  Almescar, 
furnishing  a  sweet-scented  resin ;  the  Macella,  producing  a 
material  used  in  stuffing  mattresses ;  the  Purga  do  Campo 
and  Orelha  da  On^a,  both  used  in  medicine,  and  the  curious 
Barrigudinha,  with  its  swollen  stem.  Creeping  about  over 
the  bushes,  one  sees  here  and  there  tangled  skeins  of  the 
yellow  thread-like  stems  of  the  Cipo  de  Chumbo,  a  species  of 
Cuscuta,  or  Dodder.  A  large  number  of  the  plants  of  the 
taboleiros  are  medicinal,  and  very  many  have  aromatic 
leaves.  Small  and  beautiful  flowering  plants  abound  among 
the  tufts  of  coarse  grass  with  which  the  plains  are  covered. 
These  grasses  grow  in  widely  separated  clumps.  My  guide 
indicated  the  three  principal  kinds  as  Capim  agreste,  Ca- 
pim  de  C/ieiro,  and  Capim  pubo.  I  observed  one  or  two 
species  of  Melocactus,  but  I  do  not  remember  having  seen  a 
single  large  Cereus,  a  plant  so  common  on  the  dry  rocky 
sertoes  of  the  Rio  de  Sao  Francisco.  A  little  palm,  Licori, 
is  very  common,  and  is  the  only  species  I  saw  on  these 
campos. 

Ant-hills  are  common  on  the  taboleiros,  looking  like  scat 
tered  boulders.  Under  one  of  these  I  found  a  large  scor 
pion,  an  insect  which,  like  the  centipede,  is  common  enough 
in  Brazil ;  but  one  might  travel  a  year  in  the  country  with 
out  seeing  a  specimen  of  either,  unless  he  made  special 
search  for  them. 

As  elsewhere,  these  campos  are  burned  over  from  'time 
to  time,  and  the  flora  has  consequently  suffered  great 
modification. 

To  give  an  idea  of  the  general  character  of  the  vegetation, 
as  well  as  of  the  topography  of  the  sand  plains  and  the  ter 
tiary  hills  near  Alagoinhas,  I  introduce  the  sketch  on  the 
following  page. 


376 


GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 


THE   TABOLEIROS   NKAK  ALAGOLNHAS. 


These  hills  are  composed  of  a  soft,  reddish,  argillaceous 
sandstone,  with  some  layers,  however,  of  a  coarse  kind,  very 
hard,  of  a  dark-red  color  and  with  a  cement  of  ferric  oxide. 
In  some  places  these  rocks  form  cliffs.  Here,  as  in  the 
taboleiros  of  Camassari,  the  sands  bathe  the  foot  of  the  hills 
like  a  sheet  of  water.  The  hills  are  covered  from  top  to 
bottom  with  fragments  of  the  coarse  red  sandstone,  with 
some  quartz  pebbles.  Usually  round  the  base  of  the  hills 
the  sands  have  a  coating  of  red  soil  washed  down  from  the 
hillside.  Near  Jacare'  the  soil  of  some  parts  of  the  hilly 
land  becomes  better  in  quality,  and  is  soft  and  loose.  Here 
we  find  a  liberal  forest  coating,  and  some  poor  settlers  cul 
tivate  fields  of  mandioca,  tobacco,  corn,  &c.  The  soil  is 
sandy,  and  grayish-brown  in  color.  Farther  back  comes 
a  belt  of  forest  beyond  the  taboleiros,  and  a  considerable 
quantity  of  sugar  is  raised  in  that  region. 

The  height  of  Alagoinhas  station  above  the  sea,  according 
to  the  survey  of  Mr.  Vivian  as  laid  down  on  the  manuscript 


GEOLOGY   OF   THE   VICINITY   OF   SAO   SALVADOR.          377 

map  of  Mr.  Nicolay,  is  three  hundred  feet.  The  tertiary 
hills  of  the  vicinity  I  should  judge  to  be  one  hundred  and 
fifty  feet  higher,  more  or  less. 

As  to  the  extension  of  the  cretaceous  beds  on  both  sides 
of  the  line,  I  have  very  scanty  information.  The  island  of 
Madre  de  Deus,  in  the  Bay  of  Bahia,  belongs  to  the  same 
series,  as  I  have  seen  in  Mr.  Nicolay's  collection  several 
specimens  of  sandstone  and  other  rocks  from  this  locality 
precisely  like  those  on  the  railroad  ;  and  the  island  of  Itapa- 
rica  is  also,  to  a  large  extent  at  least,  cretaceous.  I  have 
not  heard  of  their  extension  farther  south.  I  believe  that 
the  Bahia  cretaceous  series  is  confined  entirely  to  the  bor 
ders  and  islands  of  the  Bay  of  Bahia,  and  that  it  is  for  the 
most  part  an  accumulation  within  a  closed  fresh-water  basin.* 

The  sands  and  gravels  of  the  plains  and  connecting 
valleys  are  certainly  newer  than  the  coast  tertiary  beds, 
which  are  denuded  in  order  to  form  the  basins  in  which 
these  were  deposited.  They  appear  to  me  to  be  of  la 
custrine  and  fluviatile  origin,  and  I  believe  that  the  plains 
were  once  covered  by  large  lakes,  which  have  been  drained 
by  the  cutting  through  of  the  high  lands  on  the  south 
by  the  streams  flowing  from  them.  From  what  I  have 
been  able  to  observe,  these  beds  are  uniformly  overspread 
by  a  sheet  of  clayey  sand,  mixed  with  fragments  of  rock 
from  the  neighboring  hills,  which  sheet  I  consider  to  be 
drift,  so  that  the  sands  and  gravels  may  possibly  be  of 
very  late  tertiary  age.  It  is  very  probable  that  they  may 
turn  out  to  belong  to  the  same  series  as  certain  similar  de 
posits  observed  by  Mr.  St.  John  in  the  valley  of  the  Rio  de 
Sao  Francisco,  which  are  overlaid  by  drift  in  the  same  way. 

*  In  Professor  Agassiz's  collection  I  find  a  fragment  of  greenish  shale  with 
cyprids  from  Parahyba  do  Norte,  which  appears  to  be  from  a  formation  similar 
to  that  of  Bahia. 


GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE    PROVINCES    OF   SERGIPE     AND    ALAGOAS,   AND    THE  RIVER 
SAO   FRANCISCO   BELOW   THE   FALLS. 

The  Province  of  Sergipe.  —  Its  Division  into  Mattas  and  Agrestes.  —  The  Eio 
Real.  —  Estancia ;  New  Red  Sandstone,  Sugar  Plantations,  £c.  —  Sand 
Dunes.  —  The  Rio  Vasabarris.  —  The  Rio  Cotinguiba.  —  Aracajii. —  Cre 
taceous  Beds  with  Inocerami  at  Sapucahy.  —  Maro'im.  —  Cretaceous  Lime 
stone  with  Ammonites.  —  "  Fossil  Turtles."  —  Sugar  Plantations.  —  Messrs. 
Schramm  and  Company.  —  The  Bar  of  the  Sao  Francisco.  —  Sand  Dunes 
of  the  Pontal.  —  Character  of  the  River  below  Penedo.  —  Aracare.  —  Villa 
Nova  and  its  Cretaceous  Sandstones.  —  The  City  of  Penedo  and  its  Geol 
ogy.  —  Its  Commerce  and  Fair.  — Notes  on  the  Piranha  and  its  Habits.  — 
Propria.  —  Morro  do  Chaves  and  Cretaceous  Fossils.  —  Traipu.  —  Iron 
Ore.  —  Campos,  Vegetation,  Cactuses,  &c.  —  Pao  de  Assucar.  —  Cattle 
Fazendas.  —  Piranhas.  —  County  flat  and  covered  by  Boulders.  —  The 
River  Valley  a  Narrow  Gorge  in  a  Gneiss  Plain.  —  The  Falls  of  Paulo  Af- 
fonso.  —  Halfeld's  Description. — Liais's  Description.  —  Comparison  be 
tween  Paulo  Affonso  and  Niagara.  —  Mastodon  Remains  from  near  the 
Falls.  —  Climate  of  the  Sao  Francisco  below  the  Falls.  —  Steam  Naviga 
tion.  —  Character  of  the  Coast  of  the  Province  of  Alagoas,  South  of 
Maceid.  —  The  Lagoas.  —  The  City  of  Maceid  and  the  Geology  of  its 
Vicinity.  —  Tertiary  Beds.  —  Harbor  and  Reefs. 

THE  Province  of  Sergipe  is  a  very  small  one,  wedged  in 
on  the  coast  between  the  province  of  Bahia  and  the  Rio 
de  Sao  Francisco.  Its  coast  line  is  only  about  ninety  miles 
in  extent.  The  eastern  part  of  the  province  is  low  and 
uneven,  and  there  are  extensive  tracts  of  sands  along  the 
coast.  In  this  region  are  some  lands  fit  for  cultivation. 
The  western  half  of  the  province  is  higher  and  somewhat 
mountainous,  the  principal  mountain  range  being  the  Serra 


PROVINCES   OF   SERGIPE   AND  ALAGoAS-  379 

d'ltabayana,  of  which  I  shall  have  occasion  hereafter  to 
speak.  The  eastern  half  of  the  province  passes  by  the  name 
of  Mattas,  because  of  its  forests,  while  the  term  Agrestes  is 
applied  to  the  western  portion,  because  it  is  destitute  of 
forest,  and  is  to  a  large  extent  barren  and  dry,  being  in 
some  parts  fit  only  for  pasturage,  though  during  the  dry 
season  water  fails,  the  vegetation  dries  up,  and  cattle  suffer 
from  hunger  and  thirst. 

The  principal  rivers  of  the  province  are  the  Rio  Real, 
which  separates  it  from  the  province  of  Bahia  on  the  south, 
and  empties  into  the  sea  at  the  same  mouth  with  the  Rio 
Piauhy,  the  Rio  Yasabarris,  the  Cotinguiba,  and  the  Japa- 
ratuba. 

The  Rio  Real  is  a  small  river  navigable  for  a  distance  of 
some  nine  leagues  above  its  mouth.  In  its  upper  course  it 
flows  through  the  dry  belt,  and  it  is  bordered  by  cattle  fa- 
zendas.  A  little  cotton  is  raised  along  the  river. 

The  Piauhy,  another  small  river  rising  in  the  western 
part  of  the  province,  and  to  the  north  of  the  Real,  unites 
with  the  latter  river  just  before  it  empties  into  the  sea.  On 
my  return  from  a  voyage  on  the  Sao  Francisco  I  touched  at 
Estancia,  and  made  a  hasty  visit  to  the  town.  Estancia  is 
built  on  a  rolling  country,  where  the  heights  of  the  imme 
diate  vicinity  are  not  more  than  two  or  three  hundred  feet. 
The  hills  are  rounded,  and  the  rocks  composing  them  are 
coarse  red  micaceous  sandstones,  —  quite  indistinguishable 
in  the  hand  specimen  from  the  triassic  red  sandstone  of 
New  Jersey.  This  sandstone  covers  a  large  area,  and  must 
be  very  thick.  I  examined  it  in  several  places,  but  found 
no  signs  of  fossils.  The  dip,  as  a  general  thing,  appears  to 
be  but  a  few  degrees  to  the  eastward.  This  sandstone  is 
covered  by  a  red  clayey  soil,  which  bakes  very  hard,  so  that 


380  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY.' 

the  vicinity  of  Estancia  is  very  arid  and  of  little  fertility, 
and  the  vegetation  is  low  and  sparse.  There  are,  however, 
very  productive  lands  lying  farther  to  the  westward,  and 
probably  inside  of  the  sandstone  range.  Estancia  exports 
every  year  7,000  boxes  of  sugar  (48,000  cwt.),  together 
with  some  cotton,  tobacco,  etc. 

Below  Estancia  I  found  a  poor  exposure  of  limestone, 
containing  shells,  and  which  was  quarried  for  burning  into 
lime.  I  could  discover  no  signs  of  bedding.  The  Dic- 
cionarlo  Geog-raphico  says  that  in  the  neighborhood  of 
the  Rio  Piauhy  a  mine  of  coal  was  discovered,  and  that 
since  1840  no  other  coal  has  been  used  in  the  forges  of 
the  vicinity ;  but  while  at  Estancia  I  made  careful  in 
quiries  about  minerals,  and  heard  not  a  word  said  about 
the  existence  of  coal  in  the  neighborhood. 

The  river  is  narrow,  and  at  the  time  of  my  visit,  in  Au 
gust,  1867,  it  was  very  shallow.  The  water  below  the  falls 
was  fresh,  but  very  muddy.  As  the  hot  season  advances 
the  river  falls  very  low,  and  the  salt  water  flows  up  to  the 
port.  The  lower  part  of  the  river  is  bordered  by  extensive 
mangrove  swamps ;  its  mouth  is  obstructed  by  a  bad  bar. 
On  shore,  on  the  south  side,  are  some  magnificent  sand- 
dunes,  forty  to  fifty  feet  high,  as  regular  in  their  outlines 
and  as  white  in  color  as  snow-drifts. 


SAND-DUNES  AT  THE   MOUTH   OF   THE   RIO    REAL. 


PROVINCES   OF   SERGIPE  AND  ALAGoAS.  381 

North  of  Estancia  low,  irregular  hills  begin  to  make  their 
appearance,  and  seem  to  be  tertiary  outliers ;  but  away  in 
the  interior,  twenty  or  thirty  miles  from  the  coast,  is  seen 
the  blue  outline  of  the  Serra  de  Itabayana.  It  presents  a 
low,  very  evenly  rounded  form,  and  must  be  over  two  thou 
sand  feet  in  height.  It  is  composed  of  gneiss  and  mica 
slate,  as  I  had  an  opportunity  of  seeing  on  the  Rio  de  Sao 
Francisco. 

The  Vasabarris,  anciently  denominated  Irapirang,  rises 
in  the  province  of  Bahia,  in  the  Scrra  Itiuba,  according  to 
the  Diccionario  Geographico,  and  is  of  very  little  impor 
tance  except  near  the  sea,  where  it  is  navigable  for  a  dis 
tance  of  about  twenty  miles.  The  same  authority  says  that 
the  Rio  Sergipe  flows  into  it  near  its  mouth,  which  is  mani 
festly  a  mistake.  Not  far  from  the  mouth  is  the  city  of 
Sergipe  d'El-Rei,  or  Sao  Christovao,  on  the  bank  of  a  minor 
stream  emptying  into  it  from  the  north.  This  city  was,  for 
many  yearsT  the  capital  of  the  province,  but  so  very  bad  is 
the  bar  of  the  Vasabarris  that  the  river  was  not  to  be 
depended  upon  for  navigation.  The  capital  was  conse 
quently  removed  to  Aracaju,  on  the  Cotinguiba,  a  few 
leagues  farther  north.  The  city  is  now  in  decay. 

The  Cotinguiba,  or  Cotindiba,  is  a  smaller  river  than  the 
Vasabarris,  and  takes  its  rise,  as  near  as  I  can  ascertain, 
in  the  Serra  d'ltabayana.  It  is  navigable,  at  high  water, 
for  smacks  only,  as  far  as  Maro'im,  a  distance  of  some  ten 
or  twelve  miles.  The  river  has  several  branches,  on  which 
are  a  number  of  towns  of  more  or  less  importance.  At 
the  mouth  the  river  is  very  wide,  presenting  a  beautiful 
sheet  of  water ;  but  it  appears  to  be,  after  all,  only  a  sort 
of  estuary.  Between  Maro'im  and  the  sea  the  banks  are 
largely  covered  by  mangroves,  but  there  are  some  hills  and 
hisrhcr  lands. 


382 


GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 


The  bar  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  is  very  dangerous, 
and  the  surf  beats  on  it  with  great  fury,  sometimes  pre 
cluding  the  possibility  of  entering.  Almost  across  the 
mouth,  from  the  northern  side,  stretches  a  line  of  sand 
banks  of  a  crescent-like  shape.  Three  of  these  are  joined 


Bar  of 


Rio 


together,  their  convexities  being  turned  toward  the  sea, 
while  the  extremities  are  produced  up  the  river  as  long 
spits.  A  similar  sand-bank  is  attached  to  the  northern 
bank.  These  hook-shaped  spits  of  sand  are  made  in  the 
struggle  between  the  river  and  the  waves  of  the  sea,  in 
the  same  manner  as  the  hook  at  the  mouth  of  New  York 
Bay  is  made.  Like  the  other  rivers  on  this  coast,  the 
Cotinguiba  enters  the  sea  very  obliquely  with  a  southeast 
course.  The  left  bank  is  flat,  composed  of  sand,  and 
continues  low  for  several  miles  up  the  river.  On  the  oppo 
site  side,  at  the  mouth,  there  are  extensive  dunes  forty 
to  fifty  feet  high,  flanking  a  tract  of  recently  elevated  sands, 
stretching  along  several  miles,  covered  with  cocoa-palms 


PROVINCES   OF   SERGIPE   AND   ALAG<3AS.  383 

as  far  as  the  city  of  Aracajii,  a  small  and  uninteresting 
town,  the  capital,  built  on  a  flat  of  lower  alluvial  ground, 
bordering  the  river  at  the  base  of  the  sands.  In  the  upper 
part  of  the  town  the  dunes  are  very  large  and  conspicuous. 
In  company  with  Dr.  Brunet,  Director  of  the  Agricul 
tural  College  at  Bahia,  I  walked  over  the  stratified  sands 
for  some  distance  up  the  river  to  a  hill  on  which  there  is 
a  church  and  little  village.  I  saw  no  shells  in  the  sands. 
The  hill  referred  to  is  tertiary,  and  we  saw  in  the  soil  cov 
ering  it  irregular  masses  of  the  common  dark-red  tertiary 
sandstone.  The  height  of  the  sand  plain  above  water  level 
was,  if  I  remember  rightly,  about  fifteen  feet. 

A  few  miles  above  the  city,  and  also  on  the  right  bank  of 
the  river,  at  a  place  called  Sapucahy,  there  is  quite  a  large 
quarry  in  a  little  hill  composed  of  a  white  flaggy  and  shaly, 
rather  soft  and  chalky  limestone,  used  quite  extensively 
for  building  purposes  in  Aracaju.  Of  this  limestone  a 
thickness  of  over  a  hundred  feet  is  exposed.  The  stratifi 
cation  is  remarkably  regular,  and  the  quality  of  the  stone 
is  very  uniform.  As  a  general  thing  it  is  almost  pure,  white 
and  somewhat  soft,  but  there  are  bands  of  a  grayish  variety, 
much  harder,  which  have,  at  first  sight,  the  appearance  of 
a  lithographic  stone.  The  thinner  shales  resemble  strongly 
those  of  Solenhofen.  A  large  part  of  the  rock  is  flaggy, 
and  is  readily  quarried  out  in  large  thin  slabs.  There  are 
some  lines  of  flints  in  these  beds,  but  these  are  not  rounded 
as  in  the  English  chalk,  but  tabular  and  angular.  I  have 
submitted  some  specimens  of  these  rocks  to  my  friend  Mr. 
Arthur  M.  Edwards,  the  microscopist,  of  New  York,  who 
has  been  unsuccessful  in  discovering  in  them  any  micro 
scopic  remains.  On  the  surface  of  some  of  the  layers  of 
limestone  I  have  found  great  numbers  of  valves  of  a  pretty 


384 


GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 


InoceramuSj  most  probably  new,  together  with  a  little  Am 
monite  and  some  teliostian  fish-scales.  I  am  told  that  per 
fect  fishes  have  been  obtained  here  as  well  as  at  Laran- 
geiras,  and  some  specimens  were  collected  a  few  years  ago 
in  this  vicinity  by  his  Majesty  the  Emperor  of  Brazil,  a 
shrewd  geological  observer.  This  white  limestone  appears 
to  represent  the  white  chalk.  The  beds  at  Sapucahy  have 
a  moderate  dip  to  the  southeast  approximately. 


Between  Sapucahy  and  Maroim,  a  few  miles  up  the  river, 
the  grounds  are  low,  and  the  boatmen  informed  me  that  lime 
abounded  in  the  vicinity.  The  limestone  of  Sapucahy  is 
said  not  to  furnish  good  lime.  At  Maroim  I  was  gratified  to 
find  the  streets  paved  with  large  blocks  of  a  coarse  yellowish 
limestone,  and  to  see  on  them  the  impressions  of  some  large 
Ammonites  and  Ceratites,  some  of  which  I  took  up  and 
brought  away  with  me.*  Besides  these  fossils  I  obtained, 

*  I  visited  the  quarry  that  supplied  the  stone,  hut  in  th",  short  time  at  my 
disposal  I  found  hut  little. 


PROVINCES   OF   SERGIPE    AND   ALAGoAS.  385 

through  the  kindness  of  Mr.  Adolph  Lane,*  several  speci 
mens  of  a  large  Natica.  Mr.  Nicolay  once  showed  the 
drawing  of  a  Cidaris  sent  to  him  from  that  locality. 

At  the  Salem  meeting  of  the  Association  for  the  Advance 
ment  of  Science,  in  August,  18G9,  I  exhibited  my  collection 
of  Maroiin  fossils,  and  expressed  the  opinion  that  they  were 
cretaceous.  Professor  Alpheus  Hyatt,  in  examining  the 
specimens,  was  struck  with  the  remarkable  peculiarities 
possessed  by  some  of  them,  and  which  recalled  Jurassic 
forms.  Professor  Hyatt  kindly  consented  to  study  the 
specimens  critically,  and  I  am  glad  to  be  able  to  present 
the  following  report  upon  them,  which  he  has  prepared  for 
this  work.  I  am  especially  glad  to  have  the  opinion  of  this 
naturalist  on  the  Ceratites  and  Ammonites,  because  he  has 
made  such  exceedingly  careful  studies  of  these  groups. 

Report  on  the  Cretaceous  Fossils  from  Jfaro'im,  Province  of  Sergipe, 
Brazil,  in  the  Collection  of  PROFESSOR  HA.RTT.  By  ALPHEUS 
HYATT,  S.B.,  Curator  in  the  Pecibody  Academy,  Salem,  Mass. 

In  the  small  collection  of  fossils  from  the  above  locality,  placed 
in  my  hands  for  examination,  I  have  been  able  to  make  out  the 
following  species  :  — 

Natica  prwlonga  Leymerie. 

Natica  prcdonga  Leymerie,  1842,  Mem.  de  la  Soc.  Ge"ol.  t.  v.  pi.  16,  fig.  8,  p.  13; 
D'Orb.,  Voy.  dans  1'Am^r.  Mer.  t.  3,  p.  73,  pi.  18;  Pal.  Fran.,  Terr.  Cr4t.  p.  152, 
pi.  172,  fig.  1. 

This  species  is  quite  closely  allied  to  Natica  Pierdenalis  of 
Roenier,  collected  in  Texas,  but  has  a  longer  and  more  acute  spire. 
The  French  specimens  were  found  at  Thieffrain  and  Yandoeuvre, 
in  the  Lower  Neocomien,  by  M.  Leymerie,  and  the  identification 

*  Since  my  return  home  Mr.  Laue  has  been  so  kind  as  to  send  me  small  lots 
of  these  fossils. 

V.OL.    I.  17  Y 


386  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

Avas  made  by  a  comparison  between  the  Brazilian  specimens  and 
the  figure  given  by  D'Orbigny  in  the  PaUontologie  Franqais. 
D'Orbigny's  figure  of  the  specimen  from  Columbia,  in  his  Voyage 
dans  FAmerique  Meridionale,  is  that  of  a  young  specimen  found 
by  Boussingault  on  the  Rio  Suba,  one  of  the  affluents  of  the  Rio 
Suarez.  This  agrees  perfectly  with  the  figure  of  the  French 
specimen.  The  French,  Columbian,  and  Brazilian  specimens  are 
all  casts  of  the  interior. 

Locality  :  Cretaceous  of  Maroi'm,  C.  F.  H.,  1867,  and  Mr.  Adolph 

Lane. 

Ceratites  Harttii  n.  sp. 

This  specimen  I  was  at  first  disposed  to  consider  as  a  Goniatite 
in  spite  of  the  septa,  the  characteristics  of  which  are  unquestion 
ably  ceratitic.  It  is  evidently  a  fossil  cast  which  has  been  trans 
ported  to  the  beds  in  which  it  was  found,  from  some  older  stratum 
of  precisely  the  same  lithological  composition.  Serpulse  have  in- 
crusted  the  surface,  stretching  their  long  cornucopia-like  shell- 
cases  across,  or  fitting  closely  into  the  abraded  depressions  which 
mark  the  former  edges  of  the  septal  partitions.  The  presence  of 
these  serpulse  show  conclusively  that  the  specimens  rrmst  have 
been  a  fossil  long  before  they  began  to  grow  upon  its  surface,  and 
that  it  had  suffered  much  from  the  wear  and  tear  of  the  elements 
before  they  could  have  fitted  themselves  so  accurately  into  the 
depressions  of  its  rough  and  pitted  exterior.  The  umbilicus  is 
filled  with  the  tough  calcareotis  matrix,  but  its  form  must  neces 
sarily  be  that  of  a  very  deep  funnel,  the  whorls  enveloping  the 
greater  portion,  if  not  the  whole,  of  the  sides  of  the  young.  This 
is  certainly  the  case  with  regard  to  the  last  whorl,  which  covers 
nearly  the  whole  breadth  of  the  sides  of  the  immediately  preced 
ing  volution,  leaving  only  a  narrow  band  exposed.  This  peculi 
arity,  and  the  great  transverse  breadth  of  the  volutions,  gives  to 
this  species  a  remarkably  close  resemblance  to  Goniatites  crenistria 
and  other  allied  forms,  and  this  it  was  which,  at  first  sight,  led  me 
to  imagine  that  the  older  Goniatites,  as  well  as  the  Ceratites,  had 


PROVINCES   OF   SERGIPE   AND   ALAGoAS.  387 

"colonized"  the  cretaceous  shores  of  Brazil.  The  longest  diameter 
of  the  cast  is  nearly  five  (4|§)  inches.  The  latter  half  of  the 
last  volution,  occupied  by  the  terminal  chamber,  is  devoid  of  sep- 
tal  markings,  and  has  suffered  too  much  from  abrasion  to  allow  of 
accurate  measurements.  Near  the  last  septum,  however,  the  ful 
ness  of  the  original  shell  is  very  well  preserved,  and  here  the 
dorso-abdominal  breadth  of  the  last  whorl  was  found  to  be  two 
sevenths  shorter  than  the  dorsal  breadth,  measuring  from  shoul 
der  to  shoulder  of  the  umbilical  edge.  The  abdomen  and  sides 
are  symmetrically  rounded,  reaching  their  greatest  width  or  de 
parture  from  each  other  on  the  umbilical  edge.  The  curvature  of 
the  sides  is  so  rapid,  however,  and  the  apparent  elevation  of  the 
abdomen  so  great,  that,  without  actual  measurement,  no  one  would 
be  apt  to  suspect  that  the  base  of  the  arch  was  longer  than  its 
axis  of  elevation.  The  edges  of  the  septa,  though  worn  away  to 
a  considerable  extent,  are  sufficiently  distinct  to  allow  of  the  de 
termination  of  their  general  characteristics.  They  are  evidently 
more  closely  allied  to  those  of  Ceratites  (Ammonites)  Robinii,  as 
figured  by  Von  Buch,*  than  any  other  species.  The  abdominal 
lobe,  however,  has  a  siphonal  cell  of  ordinary  size  in  place  of  the 
large  broad  cell  occupying  the  abdomen  of  that  species.  The 
lateral  lobes  and  cells  have  very  nearly  the  same  general  outline 
as  in  Ceratites  Robinii,  and  the  superior  lateral  cell  has  a  similar 
triple  division  of  the  base  line,  due  to  the  presence  of  two  minor 
lobes  of  equal  size.  The  superior  lateral  lobe  is  about  one  third 
deeper  than  the  abdominal  lobe.  The  inferior  lateral  cell  is  very 
much  broader  than  in  Ceratites  Robinii,  and  the  base,  instead  of 
being  smooth,  is  broken  by  two  or  more  minor  lobes,  almost  obliter 
ated,  however,  in  the  cast.  In  other  respects  these  cells  are  very 
like  those  of  Ceratites  Robinii,  having  precisely  the  same  hump-like 
form  rising  gradually  on  the  abdominal,  and  bulging  out  on  the 
dorsal  or  umbilical  sides.  The  inferior  lateral  lobes  in  both  spe 
cies  are,  on  account  of  the  contiguity  of  the  septa,  in  contact,  and 

*  Utler  Ceratiten,  Abhand,  d.  Kong.  Akad.  Berlin,  1848,  p.  176,  fig.  4. 


388  GEOLOGY   AXD   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

set  one  into  the  other  like  a  pile  of  coffee-cups ;  this  lobe,  how 
ever,  in  Ceratites  Hartlii  is  either  deeper  or  of  about  the  same 
depth  as  the  superior  lateral.  The  first  auxiliary  cells  and  lobes 
are  equally  imitative,  but  the  basal  outlines  of  the  former  are  di 
vided  by  two  minor  lobes  similar  to  those  of  the  superior  and 
inferior  lateral  cells. 

The  first  auxiliary  lobe,  also,  reaches  the  umbilical  edge,  instead 
of  being  situated  at  some  distance  therefrom,  as  in  Ceratites  Robinii, 
and  the  smaller  auxiliary  lobes  and  cells  are  upon  the  unexposed, 
inturned  portion  of  the  border,  and  are  not  seen  upon  the  sides,  as 
in  Von  Buch's  figure  of  the  latter.  Probably  no  very  close  com 
parisons  can  be  made  between  the  form  of  the  shell  in  these  two 
species,  since  Ceratites  Robinii  has  a  shallow  umbilicus  and  nar 
rower  whorls.  There  seems  to  be  no  doubt,  therefore,  that  this 
fossil  is  undescribed,  and  as  it  is  the  remains  of  a  very  remarkable 
cretaceous  animal,  its  dedication  to  its  discoverer  cannot  be  classed 
among  compliments  of  a  similar  sort  which  are  too  often  common 
place  or  misapplied.* 

Ceratites  (Ammonites)  Pierdenalis  Von  Buch. 

No.  4  of  the  collection  is  so  closely  allied  to  this  species  in  the 
form  of  the  whorls  and  the  extent  to  which  they  envelop  each 
other  that  I  have  no  doubt  of  their  specific  identity.  The  septa 
are  not  apparent,  but  the  hollowing  in  of  the  umbilical  sides  of 
the  volutions  and  the  acuteness  of  the  abdomen  are  well  marked 
and  evidently  the  same  as  in  Ammonites  Pierdenalis. 

Locality.  In  cretaceous  beds  at  Maroi'm.  C.  F.  H.  and  Mr. 
Adolph  Laue,  collectors. 

Ammonites  Hallii  Meek  and  Hay  den1? 

No.  1  is  probably  a  fragment  of  a  large  whorl  of  Ammonites 
Hallii  of  Meek  and  Hayden,  or  a  closely  allied  species.  Although 

*  This  Ccratite  was  obtained  from  the  cretaceous  beds  of  Maroiiu.  C.  F. 
H.  and  Mr.  Adolph  Laue,  collectors. 


PROVINCES   OF   SERGIPE   AND  ALAGoAS.  389 

none  of  the  inner  whorls  are  preserved,  the  umbilicus  was  evi 
dently  deep  and  comparatively  narrow,  a  characteristic  caused  by 
the  broad  dorsum,  small  number,  and  very  rapid  increase  in  size 
of  the  volutions. 

The  costse,  or  pilre,  as  I  prefer  to  call  them,  cross  the  abdomen 
without  interruption,  and  not  more  than  one  in  four  reach  the 
umbilical  edge,  where  they  develop  large,  coarse  tubercles  and  dis 
appear.  An  outline  or  section  of  the  whorl  would  curve  like  a 
Roman  arch,  the  abdomen  being  rounded  far  down  on  the  sides, 
the  sides  flattened  only  when  near  to  the  umbilical  edge,  which  is 
very  abrupt,  and  in  the  whorl  examined  measured  about  four  fifths 
of  an  inch  from  the  edge  to  the  side  of  the  preceding  whorl.  The 
base  of  the  whorl  in  its  broadest  part,  from  edge  to  edge,  measures 
three  and  two  fifths  inches,  and  its  height,  from  a  line  connecting 
the  umbilical  edges,  three  and  one  fifth  inches.  The  septa  are  not 
sufficiently  well  preserved  to  afford  an  accurate  description. 

No.  2  is  a  species  of  the  Ligati  group.  The  ligature-like  depres 
sions  constricting  the  whorl  are  plainly  visible,  and  the  form 
reminds  one  of  Ammonites  semistriatus  D'Orb.,  at  least  the  general 
aspect  of  the  last  whorl  somewhat  resembles  that  species. 

No.  3  appears  to  be  identical  either  with  Ammonites  Peruviamis 
Von  Buch,  or  Ammonites  acutocarinatus  Shumard.  The  fragment 
is  very  much  compressed,  and  the  true  characteristics  of  the  ab 
domen  obliterated. 

No.  3  a  is  a  fragment  of  a  young  specimen  of  No.  3.  This  is 
not  compressed,  and  shows  the  prominent  keel  and  broad  pilao  of 
this  species  much  more  plainly. 

Locality  :  Maroi'm,  in  cretaceous  beds.  C.  F.  H.  and  Mr.  Adolph 
Laue,  collectors. 

Ammonites  Gihbonianus  Lea. 

No.  5  is  probably  the  young  of  No.  6.  The  piloe  (ribs  or  costae) 
make  their  appearance  on  the  first  quarter  of  the  second  whorl. 

After  this  first  period  the  whorls  are  obscured  more  or  less  until 
the  last  quarter  of  the  fifth  whorl.  From  this  time  until  the  com- 


390  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

pletion  of  the  sixth  volution  there  are  large  tuberculated  piltc 
which  alternate  with  others  of  lesser  height  and  thickness,  though 
in  a  very  irregular  manner.  The  larger  pilse  begin  to  lose  their 
greater  proportional  height  on  the  latter  part  of  the  sixth  whorl, 
and  appear  about  to  assume  the  same  form  as  those  of  No.  6,  de 
scribed  below. 

The  dorsum  of  the  sixth  whorl  is  much  broader  than  the  abdo 
men  ;  the  umbilical  edges  are  rounded  and  the  sides  slope  evenly 
to  the  base  of  the  keel.  The  pilse  have  squarely  cut  geniculse, 
probably  tuberculated  on  the  shell,  and  which  bend  forward  on  to 
the  abdomen  and  terminate  close  to  the  keel. 

The  keel  is  very  prominent,  thin,  and  sharp,  and  the  sides  be 
tween  the  pilse  are  evenly  rounded  upon  the  edge  of  the  abdomen, 
in  those  parts  not  affected  by  compression. 

The  septa  were  too  obscure  to  be  observed  with  any  approach 
to  accuracy. 

No.  G.  The  keel  is  very  nearly  perfect,  and  shows  to  the  fullest 
extent  its  great  breadth  and  the  entirely  external  position  of  the 
siphon.  In  this  respect  it  resembles  Nos.  5  and  7,  in  both  of 
which  the  siphon  is  not  present  at  all  in  the  internal  casts  of  the 
whorl,  but  disappears  with  the  removal  of  the  shell. 

The  latter  part  of  the  sixth  and  the  first  half  of  the  seventh 
whorls  are  exposed,  and  tolerably  well  preserved.  The  umbilical 
edge  is  rounded,  and  the  sides  slope  evenly  to  the  base  of  the  keel. 
The  umbilicus  itself  rather  deep.  The  abdomen  is  not  quite  so 
broad  as  the  dorsum,  measured  from  edge  to  edge.  The  pilae  are 
depressed  on  the  umbilical  border,  but  the  geniculoc  are  slightly 
more  prominent,  but  not  tuberculated,  and  bend  forward  on  to 
the  abdomen,  terminating  near  the  keel. 

They  continue  to  remain  straight  until  near  the  second  quarter 
of  the  seventh  volution.  Here  a  double  curvature  begins  to  be 
apparent.  The  lower  part  bends  forward  over  the  umbilical  edge 
with  a  salient  curvature,  and  is  continued  by  a  reentrant  curve, 
which,  also,  takes  a  forward  direction  over  the  edge  of  the  abdo- 


PROVINCES   OF   SEEGIPE   AND   ALAGoAS.  391 

men  to  the  base  of  the  keel.  The  pilso  lose  something  of  their 
former  prominence  near  the  geniculec,  and  conform  more  decidedly 
to  the  curvature  of  the  sides  of  the  whorl. 

The  keel  itself  on  the  seventh  volution  measured  nearly  one 
half  of  an  inch,  and  the  whorl  nearly  two  inches. 

No.  7.  The  lai'gest  of  this  lot  hardly  reaches  beyond  the  sixth 
whorl.  Though  differing  considerably  at  first  sight,  they  are  really 
still  younger  specimens  of  No.  6  than  No.  5,  with  the  casts  of  the 
pilse  better  preserved.  The  umbilical  edge  slopes  sharply  inwards, 
the  sides  incline  outward  to  the  edge  of  the  abdomen,  and  then 
slope  with  a  reentrant  curve  to  the  base  of  the  keel.  The  envel 
opment  extends  only  so  far  as  to  cover  the  abdomen  and  perhaps 
the  tubercles  on  the  geniculee.  The  pilse  conform  to  the  curves 
of  the  umbilical  edge  and  then  rise  gradually  to  greater  promi 
nence  and  acquire  tuberculated  geniculse  upon  the  edge  of  the 
abdomen,  with  extensions  which  raise  folds  upon  the  abdomen 
reaching  nearly  straight  across  to  the  base  of  the  keel.  The  keel 
itself  is  very  prominent,  and  possesses  the  same  remarkable  thin 
ness  and  prominence  obsei'ved  in  No.  G.  All  the  specimens,  with 
one  exception,  have  the  pilee  evenly  developed  and  equally  promi 
nent,  but  in  this  one  the  same  alternation  of  large  and  small  pilse 
may  be  observed  as  in  No.  5. 

Thus  there  can  be  little  doubt  of  all  four  of  these  varieties 
belonging  to  one  and  the  same  species.  For  the  specimen  last 
described  differs  from  all  other  specimens  of  No.  7  only  so  far  as  it 
agrees  with  No.  5,  namely,  in  the  alternation  of  the  pilee  ;  and 
No.  5  differs  from  it  only  in  those  characteristics  which  it  shares 
in  common  with  No.  6,  namely,  untuberculated  genicuhe  much 
less  prominent  than  in  No.  5,  and  rounded  umbilical  edges  with 
sides  which  slope  evenly  to  the  base  of  the  keel  as  in  No.  6. 

The  general  aspect  of  a  section  of  one  of  No.  5,  the  amount  of 
envelopment,  and  the  outline  of  the  whorl,  closely  resemble  Mar- 
cou's  figure  of  Ammonites  GMonianus,  found  in  Texas,  and  there 
is  a  faint  resemblance  to  Lea's  original,  but  miserably  inadequate 


392  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

figure  and  description  of  a  fragment  of  the  same  species  found  in 
New  Grenada. 

It  may,  perhaps,  excite  surprise  that  the  Ammonites  noticed  in 
this  report  are  not  published  under  different  generic  appellations 
from  those  usually  employed,  and  this  indeed  calls  for  some  expla 
nation  on  my  part.  All  the  genera  described  by  me  in  the  Bulletin 
of  the  Museum  of  Comparative  Zoology  were  collected  from  Liassic 
beds,  and  their  characteristics  were  determined  by  careful  com 
parisons  of  the  }*o\mg  and  adult  specimens  throughout  large  series 
of  specimens.  This  kind  of  work  has  led  to  the  conclusion  that 
it  will  not  in  most  instances  promote  the  knowledge  of  palaeon 
tology  to  describe  isolated  genera  in  other  formations.  When  a 
series  of  connected  generic  groups  can  be  delineated  standing  in 
their  serial  relations  to  each  other,  and  illustrating  natural  laws 
of  arrangement,  or  when  the  diagnoses  of  new  genera,  even 
though  isolated,  may  indicate  important  facts  of  stratigraphical  or 
geographical  distribution,  the  readjustment  of  the  older  and  more 
comprehensive  names  and  groups  may  become  imperative.  The 
Brazilian  specimens,  however,  evidently  belong  to  new  genera,  ac 
cording  to  my  views  of  the  relations  of  species  among  the  Ammo 
nites,  but  for  the  present  any  change  of  their  well-known  names 
seems  unnecessary. 

All  of  the  Brazilian  Ammonites  are  either  identical  with,  or  so 
closely  allied  to,  species  already  described  from  the  Texas  beds  by 
Roemer  and  others,  that  they  cannot  be  safely  separated. 

The  presence  of  such  well-characterized  species  as  Natica  prce- 
lonc/a,  Ammonites  Peruvianus,  and  perhaps  of  other  species  on  the 
western  as  well  as  eastern  side  of  the  Andes-Rocky  Mountain 
chain  in  Brazil  and  Texas,  indicates  the  connection  between  these 
slopes,  either  across  the  Isthmus  or  west  of  Brazil,  while  a  creta 
ceous  ocean  still  flowed  over  the  whole  of  the  northern  portion  of 
South  America.  These  facts,  when  considered  in  connection  with 
the  discovery  of  a  fossil  Ananchytes  on  the  Isthmus,  as  recorded 
by  Mr.  Alexander  Agassiz,  have  a  direct  bearing  upon  a  very  im 
portant  question. 


PROVINCES   OF   SERGIPE   AND   ALAGoAS.  393   , 

The  expeditions  of  the  Coast  Survey,  as  is  now  well  known  to  all 
naturalists,  have  established  the  fact  of  a  remarkable  similarity  be 
tween  the  present  deep-sea  fauna  and  the  species  of  cretaceous 
genera ;  and  it  has  been  shown  that  the  sui'face  or  littoral  animals 
were  more  or  less  represented  by  identical  or  closely  allied  species 
of  the  Pacific  side  of  the  Isthmus.  Thus  the  question  has  arisen 
whether  or  not  the  closely  allied  or  identical  forms  are  the  de 
scendants  of  Gulf  species,  which,  having  migrated  through  some 
ancient  channel  subsequently  closed  by  the  rise  of  the  neck  of 
land  forming  the  Isthmus  of  Darien.  Of  course  the  first  step  to 
wards  the  solution  of  this  problem  would  be  to  prove  the  existence 
of  a  channel  affording  a  free  passage  to  marine  animals  at  some 
preceding  period.  This  gives  great  interest  to  facts  like  the  above, 
which  appear  to  confirm  the  conclusion  of  Mr.  Alexander  Agassiz, 
that  during  the  cretaceous  period  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  and  the 
Pacific  Ocean  were  really  continuous  seas. 

I  heard  it  frequently  reported,  that  large  fossil  turtles 
were  found  at  Maro'im.  One  of  them  I  saw  at  Bahia,  and 
it  was  nothing  but  a  huge  Septarium. 

The  Maro'im  limestone  is  evidently  upper  cretaceous,  and 
belongs  lower  down  in  the  series  than  the  white  flaggy  lime 
stone  of  Sapucahy.  I  saw.no  trace  of  red  sandstone  like 
that  of  Estancia,  which  may  perhaps  underlie  the  Maro'im 
limestone,  though  it  may  be  wanting,  as  I  have  seen  it  no 
where  else,  and  it  seems  to  be  a  local  formation.  The 
country  about  Maro'im  is  hilly,  but  low.  The  soil  is  very 
rich,  and  a  large  trade  is  carried  on  in  sugar,  the  greater 
part  of  which  is  in  the  hands  of  the  wealthy  house  of  Messrs. 
Schramm  &  Co. 

The  shore  between  the  mouths  of  the  Cotinguiba  and  Sao 
Francisco  Rivers  is  low,  with  a  few  scattered  hills,  and  is  of 
little  interest. 

17* 


394  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

The  barra  of  the  Rio  de  Sao  Francisco  is,  like  that  of  the 
Cotinguiba,  obstructed  by  sand-banks,  and  at  times  the  en 
trance  is  dangerous,  even  for  steamers.*  A  hook-shaped 
sand-spit  is  seen  extending  from  the  southern  side  of  the 
entrance. 

On  entering  the  river,  the  southern  side  is  seen  to  be 
swampy  and  for  a  considerable  distance  covered  by  man 
grove-trees.  The  opposite  side  is  sandy,  and  there  are 
some  large  areas  covered  by  fine  dunes  of  blown  sand. 
Since  Halfcld's  survey  this  has  much  changed  its  appear 
ance,  the  dunes  have  increased  in  height,  burying  some 
of  the  cocoa-trees  to  their  crowns,  and  encroaching  on 
the  river.*  Strongly  in  contrast  with  the  smooth  sweep 
ing  outlines  of  the  growing  dunes  are  the  irregular  con 
ical  hills  of  sand  which  occupy  a  large  part  of  the  Pontal. 
After  a  dune  has  grown,  some  of  the  coarse  trailing  plants 
take  root,  and  shrubs  and  little  trees  spring  up  on  its  sur 
face.  These  protect  the  area  over  which  they  grow,  while 
the  remainder  may  suffer  removal  by  the  wind,  forming 
little  conical  hills  with  tufts  of  vegetation  on  their  tops. 
The  sand  is  very  fine  and  of  a  light  brown  color.  Among 
the  sand-hills  are  large  flats,  partially  occupied  by  marshes 
and  ponds,  and  the  resort  of  great  numbers  of  wading  and 
water  birds,  cranes,  plover,  and  the  long-toed  Parra  Jacana. 

Just  about  the  mouth  a  channel  called  the  Rio  Parapuca 

*  Liais  says  that  near  its  mouth,  after  the  dry  season,  the  Suo  Francisco  de 
livers  2,800  cubic  metres  of  water  per  second.  (Bull,  de  la  Soc.  de  Gcog.,  5me 
Serie  2,  p.  390.)  Gardner  in  his  Travels,  p.  104,  draws  a  very  discouraging 
view  of  the  prospects  of  rendering  the  Sao  Francisco  navigable,  and  says  that 
here  is  seldom  more  than  four  feet  of  water  on  the  bar.  Though  dangerous, 
it  is  regularly  crossed  by  the  large  coast  steamers. 

t  Gardner  describes  similar  dunes  at  Peba,  five  leagues  north  of  the  Barra 
do  Sao  Francisco. 


PROVINCES   OF   SERGIPE  AND   ALAGoAS.  395 

leaves  the  main  river  and  empties  into  the  sea  about  a 
league  to  the  south. 

From  the  Pontal  to  Penedo,  a  distance  of  about  twenty- 
five  miles  by  the  river,  the  shores  of  the  river  are  very 
low  and  flat,  and  there  are  many  large  islands.  Ascend 
ing  some  distance  the  mangrove  swamps  disappear,  and  a 
growth  of  aninga  is  common,  while  the  giant  uba  grass 
sometimes  covers  considerable  tracts.  These  islands  and 
the  neighboring  flat  lands  are  partially  wooded,  but  the 
growth  is  neither  so  luxuriant  nor  so  thick  as  that  which 
characterizes  the  Mucury  and  Doce  in  the  south,  or  the 
Amazonas  in  the  north.  The  river-banks  are  quite  low, 
and  large  tracts  are  every  year  covered  for  a  time  by  the 
waters  of  the  annual  freshet,  which,  however,  deposit  a  fresh 
coating  of  mud  over  the  surface,  adding  to  the  fertility  of 
the  region.  The  banks  are,  in  some  places,  seen  to  be 
composed  entirely  of  sand,  but  usually  there  is  a  superficial 
stratum,  more  or  less  thick,  of  massape',  or  yellowish  and 
brownish  alluvial  clayey  soil,  which  is  very  fertile.  These 
flat  lands  are  exceedingly  well  adapted  for  cultivation,  and 
are  especially  suitable  for  sugar-cane,  of  which,  however, 
little  is  as  yet  planted.  There  are  several  settlements  on 
these  lands,  of  which  Piassabossu  is  the  largest,  where 
there  are  several  engenhos  for  the  manufacture  of  sugar 
and  cachac,a. 

The  higher  lands  begin  a  short  distance  below  Penedo  on 
the  right  bank  of  the  river  at  Porteira,  and  consist,  so  far 
as  I  have  been  able  to  see,  of  cretaceous  rocks  and  outliers 
of  the  great  coast  tertiary  sheet. 

At  Aracare*,  a  prominent  rocky  point  just  below  Villa 
Nova,  I  found  a  series  of  beds  much  broken  up,  and  about 
whose  stratigraphy,  from  my  time  having  been  occupied  in 


396  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

a  search  for  fossils,  I  do  not  feel  quite  sure.  The  spot  is  of 
considerable  interest,  because  rocks  are  found  there  that  I 
have  not  seen  elsewhere. 

There  arc  beds  of  a  light  yellowish  or  brownish  fine 
grained,  shaly,  micaceous  sandstone,  in  which  I  found  a 
multitude  of  fossils  which  are  almost,  if  not  quite,  undeter 
minable.  Most  abundant  is  a  little  bivalve  which  has  filled 
some  layers,  but  which  has  left  only  empty  moulds  of  the 
valves  ;  in  addition  to  these  are  what  appear  to  be  the  spines 
of  fishes  and  fragments  of  plants.  There  are  some  layers 
of  a  light-colored  shale,  in  which,  however,  I  found  no  fossil 
remains.  These  beds  are  considerably  inclined,  but  I  omit 
ted  to  take  an  observation  of  dip  and  strike. 

The  shore  is  encumbered  by  great  masses  of  a  consider 
able  variety  of  rocks,  some  of  which  I  did  not  see  in  situ. 
Of  these  is  a  light,  porous,  argillaceous,  warm  red  sandstone, 
which  resembles  somewhat  the  sandstone  of  the  tertiary 
hills  near  Pitanga  on  the  Bahia  Railroad,  and  with  this  are 
associated  large  masses  of  a  coarse  sandstone  and  conglom 
erate  coated  by  clay  and  oxide  of  iron,  in  which  quartz  and 
agate  pebbles  are  found,  which  rock  also  appears  to  be  ter 
tiary,  so  that  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  we  have  here  over 
lying  the  fossiliferous  sandstone  and  shale  fragments  from 
the  now  generally  denuded  tertiary  sheet.  The  fossiliferous 
beds  I  believe  to  be  the  upper  members  of  the  series  of 
sandstones  of  Villa  Nova  and  Penedo,  about  to  be  described, 
and  which  I  regard  as  cretaceous. 

I  found  here  numerous  fragments  of  a  rock  with  a  sort  of 
oolitic  structure  which  is  very  interesting ;  when  a  fresh, 
undecomposed  species  is  broken,  it  is  seen  to  be  made  up 
of  round  or  irregularly  spherical  masses  of  a  granular  brown 
quartz,  about  the  size  of  coarse  duck-shot,  filled  in  with  a 


PROVINCES   OF   SERGIPE   AND   ALAGoAS.  397 

cement  of  a  bluish,  translucent  chalcedony,  in  which  are 
bedded  very  much  smaller  masses.  These  shot-like  grains 
appear  to  have  been  formed  by  the  filling  up  of  globular 
cavities  by  quartz,  for  some  of  them  are  minute  gcodes, 
still  hollow  in  the  centre.  Each  has  a  thin  concentric  coat 
ing  of  milky  chalcedony.  In  decomposing,  the  cement  of 
the  grains  becomes  white,  and  sometimes  is  first  removed, 
leaving  the  grains  projecting.  At  others  the  material  com 
posing  the  grains  is  dissolved  out,  leaving  a  honeycombed 
surface.  It  is  a  curious  rock,  whose  formation  I  do  not 
feel  prepared  to  explain.  It  looks  more  like  a  pseudomorph 
after  oolite  than  anything  else. 

At  Villa  Nova  we  find  the  low,  rocky  bluff  point  on  which 
the  village  is  built  composed  of  thick  beds  of  a  fine,  sharp, 
whitish  or  slightly  yellowish  sandstone  without  fossils,  with 
well-marked  oblique  and  irregular  lamination,  and  a  strike 
N.  50°  E.,  a  dip  of  15° -20°  S.  40°  E. 

The  city  of  Penedo  is  built  on  the  Alagoas  side,  at  the 
foot  and  on  the  side  of  a  ridge  which  runs  from  the  left 
bank  of  the  river  towards  the  northeast.  This  ridge  has  a 
steep  slope  to  the  southeast,  while  for  some  distance  on  the 
northwestern  side  it  is  precipitous  and  about  fifty  feet  high. 
The  rocks  exposed  on  the  shore  and  in  the  cliffs  at  Penedo 
are  of  the  same  general  character  as  those  of  Villa  Nova. 
A  layer  of  decomposed  shale  or  clay  is  seen  in  the  cliffs 
skirting  the  town,  together  with  some  thin  bands  of  a  fine 
shaly  micaceous  and  ferruginous  rock.  The  whole,  like  the 
Villa  Nova  beds,  dip  to  the  southeast  at  a  small  angle.* 
I  have  carefully  examined  these  sandstones  for  fossils,  but 
have  seen  only  some  badly  preserved  remains  of  plants. 

*  Gardner  says  that  the  sandstones  incline  from  east  to  west,  which  is  cer 
tainly  incorrect. 


398  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

The  hill  at  Penedo  is  covered  by  red  drift-clay,  between 
which  and  the  rock  I  found  a  sheet  of  quartz  pebbles,  min 
gled  with  angular  fragments  of  sandstone. 

The  Penedo  sandstones  are  very  porous,  and  of  a  fine  and 
even  sharp  grain,  which  makes  them  suitable  for  sharpening 
tools.  The  stone  is  highly  esteemed  for  that  purpose,  and, 
owing  to  the  want  of  sandstones  of  the  same  kind  elsewhere 
along  the  Brazilian  coast,  it  is  exported  to  a  small  extent, 
finding  its  way  even  as  far  as  Rio. 

The  same  sandstone  shows  itself  at  Boassica,*  about  three 
miles  farther  up  the  river,  on  the  Alagoas  side.  It  has  here 
the  same  dip  and  strike  and  oblique  lamination  as  at  Pe 
nedo,  and  contains  occasional  layers  of  pebbles. 

On  the  Sergipe  side  it  is  seen  again  at  Coqueiro  and  Villa 
Nova,  and  at  one  of  these  places  it  has  been  quarried  for 
building  purposes  at  Penedo. 

At  Carrapixo,  on  the  Sergipe  side,  the  native  civilized  In 
dians  manufacture  a  very  good  quality  of  earthenware  from 
the  clay  of  the  low  grounds. 

The  city  of  Penedo  is  quite  a  respectable  little  town  of 
some  3,000  or  4,000  inhabitants.  It  carries  on  a  considerable 
commerce  in  rice,  corn,  hides,  mandioca-farinha,  cotton,  <fec., 
&c.,  which  are  sent  to  Pernambuco  and  Bahia.  Every  week 
a  fair  is  held,  and  a  great  concourse  of  people  from  up  and 
down  the  river  assembles  there,  bringing  hides,  coarse  sugar, 
pottery,  tobacco,  and  a  host  of  other  articles,  which  are  ex- 

*  This  name,  which  is  applied  to  a  little  stream  and  lake  as  well  as  to  the 
settlement,  is  of  Tupi  origin,  and  is  derived  from  Boya,  a  serpent,  and  assica, 
mutilated,  the  name  of  a  species  of  serpent  which  appears  as  if  it  were  muti 
lated.  See  Tupi  Dictionary  and  Clirestomathia  da  Lingua  Brazilica.  I  do 
not  know  what  species  is  meant.  The  same  name  is  applied  to  a  lake  in  the 
province  of  Rio  de  Janeiro  situated  between  the  Rio  Macahe  and  the  Rio  das 
Ostras.  Die.  Geoy.,  sub  voce  Boassica, 


PROVINCES   OF  SERGIPE   AND   ALAG6AS.  399 

posed  for  sale  in  booths  on  the  broad  sand-beach  bordering 
the  town.  Penedo  is  a  calling-place  for  steamers  connect 
ing  with  Bahia,  and  it  has  steam  communication  with  the 
river  above  as  far  as  Piranhas. 

The  city  is  exceedingly  well  supplied  with  fish.  Among 
these  are  Tubaranas,  Curimataes,*  Piaus,  Sarapos  (Cara- 
pus),  Piabas  of  several  species,  Cachimbaus  or  Acaris,  Pi 
ranhas,  Pirampebas,  &c.,  &c.,  of  which  I  made  a  large 
collection.! 

I  extract  from  my  journal  some  notes  on  the  color,  hab 
its,  &c.,  of  the  Piranha  $  (Pygocentrus),  which  seem  to  be 
of  interest. 

This  species  of  Piranha,  according  to  the  testimony  of  the 
natives,  is  confined  entirely  to  the  Sao  Francisco  and  its 
tributaries,  though  other  species  of  the  same  genus  (or  Serra- 
salmo)  occur  elsewhere  in  South  America;  but  I  cannot 
vouch  for  the  truth  of  this  statement. 

The  Piranha  of  the  Sao  Francisco  is  strictly  a  fresh-water 
fish,  and  it  occurs  not  only  below  the  falls  of  Paulo  Affonso, 
but  also  above  them.  It  descends  the  river  quite  to  the  salt 
water,  but  never  goes  into  the  sea.  None  of  those  I  saw  at 

*  I  have  spelled  this  name  as  I  heard  it  commonly  pronounced.  Bates  writes 
it  Curimatd,  and  so  does  Fonseca  in  his  dictionary.  The  Tupi  dictionary  gives 
it  Curymald.  This  fish  belongs  to  the  genus  Anodus,  and  several  species  are 
very  common  in  the  Brazilian  rivers. 

t  All  the  fishes  collected  by  me  on  both  journeys  are  in  the  hands  of  Pro 
fessor  Agassiz.  When  the  above  was  written  Professor  Agassiz  intended  to  con 
tribute  to  this  volume  a  scries  of  articles  and  notes  on  the  fresh-water  faunae 
of  the  coast  I  explored,  but  illness  has  prevented  his  preparing  them. 

J  In  the  Tupi  dictionary  the  word  "  Piranha  "  is  translated  scissors,  and  most 
writers  seem  to  suppose  that  the  name  was  given  to  the  fish  because  of  its  scis 
sors-like  jaws.  The  Tupis  knew  nothing  about  this  implement  before  the  com 
ing  of  the  Europeans.  Piranha  (root  Pirn,  fish)  is  an  ancient  Tupi  name, 
and  it  was  doubtless  afterwards  applied  to  the  scissors  because  they  bit  like  the 
Piranna. 


400  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

Penedo  were  more  than  twenty  inches  long,  but  the  fisher 
men  say  that  they  sometimes  grow  to  the  length  of  two  feet. 
The  upper  half  of  the  body  and  head  of  a  specimen  just 
caught  were,  when  seen  from  above,  of  a  dull  and  rather 
dark  bluish-gray  or  lead  color.  The  lower  half  of  the  head 
and  body  have  as  a  ground  color  an  opaque  white,  over 
which  is  a  wash  of  a  clear  bright  gamboge-yellow,  deepen 
ing  in  some  spots  to  a  rich  orange.  All  the  young  Piran 
has  I  saw  had  the  belly  of  a  rich  red-orange  or  blood 
color.  On  the  sides  the  yellow  is  sometimes  shaded  with 
light  gray,  and  the  yellow  or  orange  tint  extends  itself  up 
ward  in  irregular  lines  over  the  dark  gray  of  the  back. 
The  pectorals  are  light  orange-yellow,  the  tint  deepening  in 
the  lower  and  middle  part  of  the  fin.  The  anal  fin  is  on 
the  thickened  base  grayish,  washed  with  a  light  clear  yellow 
tint.  The  border  is  light  purplish-brown.  The  dorsals  and 
caudal  are  a  dark,  dull  bluish-gray.  The  iris  is  pearly  white, 
with  a  cloudy  patch  of  black  above  and  below  the  pupil.* 
During  the  freshets  the  water  overflows  the  low  grounds  and 
swamps,  and  the  different  kinds  of  fish  leave  the  river  proper 
and  enter  the  lagoons  and  quiet  overflowed  places  to  spawn. 

*  Gardner  (Travels  in  Brazil,  p.  96)  describes  the  Piranha  fish  as  follows  :  "  It 
is  commonly  about  a  foot  in  length,  but  sometimes  it  is  as  much  as  two  feet 
long,  being  very  much  compressed  laterally  and  very  deep;  the  back  is  of  a 
dark  brownish  color,  and  the  belly  yellowish- white,  both  being  thinly  marked 
with  reddish  spots ;  the  lower  jaw  projects  a  little  beyond  the  upper,  and  both 
are  armed  with  about  fourteen  flattish  triangular-shaped  teeth,  upwards  of  a 
quarter  of  an  inch  in  length  and  very  short."  Thrs  description  appears  to 
refer  to  a  different  species  from  the  one  I  describe.  Humboldt  in  his  Travels, 
Vol.  II.  p.  167,  speaks  of  the  Piranhas,  or  Caribcs  of  the  Orinoco,  as  having 
"the  belly,  gill-covers,  and  the  pectoral,  anal,  and  ventral  fins  of  a  fine  orange 
hue."  My  specimens  from  the  Silo  Francisco  still  preserve  their  orange  color. 
The  Sao  Franciscan  species  appears  to  be  much  larger  than  those  of  the  Ama- 
zonas  and  Orinoco. 


PROVINCES   OF   SERGIPE  AND  ALAGtiAS.  401 

The  fishermen  said  that  the  Piranha  also  leaves  the  river 
and  chooses  a  shallow  spot  with  a  sandy  bottom  to  depos- 
ite  its  eggs.  Stooping  down,  the  fisherman  with  whom  I 
was  conversing  one  morning  took  up  a  Piranha  lying  be 
fore  him,  and  showed  me  just  how  the  eggs  were  laid. 
The  fish  having  chosen  the  proper  spot,  sweeps  away  the 
sand  with  its  tail  and  anal  fin,  so  as  to  make  a  little  saucer- 
shaped  depression  four  or  five  inches  wide.  The  eggs,  of 
about  the  size  of  mustard-seed,  are  then  laid  in  the  nest  in  a 
ball,  two  or  three  inches  in  diameter.  This  accomplished, 
the  mother  fish  takes  up  her  position  near  the  nest,  and 
keeps  watch  over  the  eggs  until  the  young  are  hatched,  for 
the  Piranha  has  enemies  in  the  hungry  little  Piabas,  which 
swarm  about  in  countless  numbers,  and  from  which  •  she 
must  defend  her  eggs.  Looking  over  a  large  lot  of  Piabas 
in  a  canoe,  I  found  it  difficult  to  obtain  a  perfect  specimen, 
on  account  of  the  mutilation  of  the  tail  and  fins.  "  This  is 
the  Piranha's  work,"  said  the  fisherman,  "  and  the  marks 
of  the  terrible  teeth  of  the  monster."  The  larger  fish  of 
the  river  also  bear  similar  scars. 

The  laying,  according  to  the  fisherman,  takes  place  prin 
cipally  in  October,  or  soon  after  the  freshets  set  in.  Dur 
ing  this  time  the  Piranhas  are  especially  fierce. 

One  fisherman  described  in  a  vivid  manner  his  finding  a 
Piranha  watching  its  nest  in  a  shallow  place  by  the  river 
side.  "  I  thought  to  catch  it,"  said  he,  "  and  waded  softly 
into  the  water  to  put  a  basket  over  it,  but  I  was  not  quick 
enough.  The  fish  darted  at  me  and  took  a  piece  out  of  my 
leg.  Look  there !  "  and  rolling  up  his  pants  he  showed  a 
pair  of  crescent-shaped  scars  left  by  the  fish's  jaws.  The 
fishermen  are  often  bitten,  and  almost  every  man  present 
had  scars  to  show,  either  on  the  arms  or  legs. 

z 


402  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

The  fishermen  united  in  saying  that  just  as  this  fish  is 
about  to  spawn  the  color  of  the  belly  changes  from  yel 
low  or  orange  to  the  same  color  as  the  back,  but  that  soon 
after  the  eggs  are  laid  the  original  color  returns. 

The  Piranha  frequents  rather  the  deeper  parts  of  the 
river,  and  abounds  in  the  eddies  among  the  rocks,  but  I 
have  seen  it  caught,  as  at  Penedo,  close  in  shore,  where  the 
water  was  not  very  deep  and  the  bottom  was  sandy. 

During  my  stay  at  Penedo  a  poor  little  idiot  sitting  on 
the  pier,  having  been  frightened  by  a  cannon,  fell  over  into 
the  river.  The  next  morning  the  Piranhas  caught  in  the 
vicinity  were  found  to  contain  portions  of  his  body.  There 
are  numerous  well-authenticated  cases  where  persons  have 
been  attacked  by  the  fish  while  bathing  and  devoured.  Only 
a  short  time  before  my  visit  to  Penedo  a  young  lady  was 
thus  attacked  and  eaten.  A  horse  fording  the  river  slips 
and  wounds  himself  on  a  stone  ;  the  Piranhas,  attracted  by 
the  blood,  crowd  about  in  great  numbers,  each  cutting  out 
mouthful  after  mouthful  of  flesh,  until,  in  many  instances, 
the  voracious  creatures  have  been  known  to  devour  the 
entire  animal  in  a  few  hours.  They  sometimes  throng  about 
their  prey  in  such  numbers  that  they  may  be  seen  leaping 
one  on  top  of  the  other  out  of  water,  in  their  eagerness 
to  get  at  it.* 

So  far  as  I  could  learn,  these  fish  appear  to  be  particularly 

*  Bates  speaks  of  the  great  swarms  of  Piranhas  in  the  Amazonas.  Hum- 
boldt  (Travels,  Vol.  II.  p.  167)  says  of  the  Piranhas  of  the  Orinoco:  "The 
Indians  dread  extremely  these  caribes  ;  and  several  of  them  showed  us  the 
scars  of  deep  wounds  in  the  calf  of  the  leg  and  in  the  thigh  made  by  these 
little  animals.  They  swim  at  the  bottom  of  the  rivers  ;  bat  if  a  few  drops  of 
blood  be  shed  on  the  water  they  rise  by  thousands  to  the  surface,  so  that  if  a 
person  be  only  slightly  bitten  it  is  difficult  for  him  to  get  out  of  the  water  with 
out  receiving  a  severer  wound." 


PROVINCES   OF   SERGIPE   AND   ALAG^AS.  403 

dangerous  only  during  the  spawning  season.  During  my 
voyage  on  the  Sao  Francisco  I  saw  everywhere  bare-legged 
women  standing  in  the  water  on  the  banks  washing,  and 
that  not  only  in  sandy  and  quiet  localities,  but  among  the 
rocks,  as  at  Proprid,  while  I  repeatedly  saw  men  wading  in 
the  water  and  boys  bathing  in  the  river. 

The  Piranha  is  much  esteemed  for  food,  and  may  ordina 
rily  be  found  for  sale  in  the  market  at  Pcnedo. 

There  is  a  species  of  Serrasalmo  (?)  found  at  Penedo  called 
Pirampcba,  the  name  being  evidently  a  compound  of  the 
two  Tupi  words  Piranha  and  peba,  or  the  flat  Piranha.  This 
species  is  smaller  than  the  last,  very  much  flatter  laterally, 
and  of  a  silvery- white  below.  I  did  not  learn  that  it  pos 
sessed  any  of  the  voracious  propensities  of  the  Piranha.* 

Between  Penedo  and  Propria,f  a  distance  of  about  six 
Brazilian  leagues  up  the  river,  the  Sergipe  side  is  bordered 
by  low  hills,  some  of  which  are  irregular  and  isolated,  and 
composed  of  the  sandstone  above  described.  The  country 
back  from  the  river  is  flat,  moderately  elevated,  and  appears 
to  be,  in  part  at  least,  tertiary.  On  the  AlagSas  side,  for 
some  distance  above  Boassica,  there  is  a  considerable  stretch 
of  low  meadow-land.  At  Morro  Vermelho,  on  the  Alagoas 
side,  cretaceous  sandstones  show  themselves  on  the  shore, 
but  the  dip  here  is  approximately  to  the  N.  W.  15°.  They 
are  covered  by  red  drift-earth  and  great  quantities  of  quartz 
pebbles,  and  at  Prazeres,  half  a  mile  farther  up,  we  again 
see  the  same  sandstones  with  a  dip  of  about  18°.  In  this 
vicinity  the  massape  lands  bordering  the  river  are  about  fif 
teen  feet  in  height. 

*  Gardner  speaks  of  seeing  dried  sturgeon  exposed  for  sale  in  the  market  at 
Penedo.     There  are  no  sturgeons  in  South  America. 

t  This  is,  I  believe,  the  correct  orthography,  but  it  is  often  written  Propia. 


404  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

Mandioca  flourishes  well  below  Propria,  and  is  planted 
as  well  on  the  alluvial  river-banks  as  on  the  hillsides ;  but 
on  the  low  grounds  covered  by  the  enchente  it  cannot  come 
to  maturity.  It  is  usually  planted  in  February  or  March, 
and  is  generally  fit  for  use  in  a  year,  when  planted  on  the 
uplands.  It  is  also  cultivated  to  a  considerable  extent  on 
the  sloping  river-banks.  Just  before  the  enchente  it  is 
pulled  up,  and  is  eaten  sometimes  when  not  more  than 
six  inches  long.  The  river  begins  to  rise  in  October. 

One  mile  below  the  town  of  Propria,  on  the  Sergipe  side, 
is  a  small  hill  called  the  Morro  do  Chaves,  or,  as  Halfeld 
has  it,  Morro  do  Eusebio.  This  hill,  which  has  rocky  sides 
toward  the  river,  I  examined  in  company  with  my  friends 
Drs.  Brunet  and  Lacerda.  The  rocks  composing  it  consist 
of  a  series  of  limestones,  conglomerates,  shales,  and  sand 
stones,  the  whole  of  which  have  a  strike  E.  15°  S.,  and  a  dip 
of  about  20°  to  the  N.  75°  E.  The  lower  strata  consist  of 
thick  beds  of  limestone,  calcareous  sandstone,  and  conglom 
erate,  some  of  the  layers  of  which  are  made  up  of  shells. 
These  beds  are  well  exposed  on  the  side  of  the  hill  nearest 
the  town. 

This  limestone  is  usually  more  or  less  arenaceous,  and  often 
contains  grains  and  pebbles  of  the  underlying  metamorphic 
rocks,  so  as  to  form  a  calcareous  conglomerate.  In  some 
places  it  is  crystalline  and  metamorphosed.  It  is  used  to 
some  extent  for  burning  into  lime,  but  the  most  of  it  is  very 
impure. 

The  shells  so  exceedingly  abundant  in  some  parts  are 
lamellibranchs,  about  one  half  to  three  quarters  inch  in 
diameter,  and  with  very  thick  valves.  I  fear  that  even  the 
genus  is  wholly  unrecognizable.  Overlying  these  limestone 
beds  are  shales,  rather  soft,  not  well  laminated,  calcareous, 


PROVINCES   OF   SERGIPE   AND   ALAG6AS.  405 

micaceous,  and  of  a  greenish  color,  in  which  I  found  a  large 
quantity  of  bones  of  teleostean  fishes,  and  an  impression 
which  had  the  outline  of  the  tooth  of  a  Notidanus.  A  fur 
ther  examination  of  these  shales  may  reveal  something  of 
more  interest. 

Going  around  the  hill  we  come  to  a  break  which  extends 
from  the  top  of  the  hill  to  the  bottom,  and  in  which  we  find 
a  confused  mass  of  broken  pieces  of  sandstone. 

This  series  of  rocks  I  have  referred  to  the  cretaceous. 
Farther  up  the  river  we  see  no  mesozoic  rocks. 

On  Halfeld's  map  a  note  says  that  in  the  Morro  do 
Euscbio  there  is  a  camada  de  cal  em  gneiss  granite,  a  bed  of 
limestone  in  gneiss-granite.  This  is  not  correct,  as  is  seen 
from  the  above  description.  The  limestones,  shales,  &c., 
overlie  beds  of  clay  slate,  which  I  saw  very  badly  exposed 
on  the  river-side.  There  appears  to  be  a  distinct  slaty 
structure  to  the  rock,  but  I  did  not  see  enough  of  the  for 
mation  to  enable  me  to  make  out  the  bedding.  I  have  seen 
no  rock  like  this  elsewhere  on  the  coast  of  Brazil. 

Proprid  itself  is  built  on  the  river-bank,  and  has  in  front 
of  it  ledges  of  flaggy  gneiss  and  mica  slate,  with  a  north 
west  strike*  and  a  dip  toward  the  southwest.  It  is  only 
a  small  village  of  little  importance,  because  the  lands  of 
the  vicinity  are  not  very  productive,  yet  it  exports  some 
cotton,  hides,  &c.  A  little  lake  near  the  town  is  said  to 
abound  in  fish,  and  to  furnish  a  considerable  revenue  to 
the  Tillage  government.  Opposite  Proprid  the  lands  are 

*  This  strike  is  almost  at  right  angles  with  that  of  the  rocks  of  the  Scrra 
do  Mar,  but  it  corresponds  to  that  of  the  gneiss  hills  between  Cape  Corrientes 
and  Tapalqucn,  and  of  the  gneiss  near  Montevideo,  in  which  the  direction  is 
W.  25° -30°  N.  D'Orbigny  thinks  that  the  system  of  upheaval  by  which 
these  extra-Brazilian  rocks  were  disturbed  was  very  nearly  as  old  as  that  which 
disturbed  the  gneiss  of  the  Serra  do  Mar. 


406  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

very  low  and  flat  over  a  very  large  area.  Behind  them  are 
seen  the  tertiary  chapadas  lying  a  few  miles  off.  When 
the  enchcnte  comes  on  the  river  rises  some  fifteen  to  twenty 
or  more  feet  here,  and  converts  the  low  grounds  just 
spoken  of  into  a  magnificent  lake-like  expansion. 

Between  Proprid  and  Sao  Braz  the  land  is  still  low,  but 
the  hills  are  of  gneiss  and  rounded.  The  rocks  frequently 
show  themselves  along  the  river-side,  the  dip  being  usually 
up  stream,  though  at  Agua  Comprida  I  observed  a  dip  down 
stream. 

The  hills  in  the  vicinity  of  Lagua  Comprida  are  300  -  400 
feet  high,  with  rounded  outlines  and  steep  sides,  which  are 
well  wooded.  Farther  up  the  river-banks  grow  higher  on 
the  Sergipe  side.  There  are  very  irregular  cliffs  of  gneiss, 
broken  and  rough,  and  almost  like  those  of  our  northern 
gneiss  regions.  The  country  in  the  vicinity  is,  generally 
speaking,  not  very  fertile,  but,  on  the  Sergipe  side,  two  or 
three  miles  from  the  river,  the  hillsides  are  highly  culti 
vated,  presenting  an  unusual  and  pleasant  appearance.  The 
same  gneissose  and  mica-schistose  rocks,  often  traversed  by 
large  veins,  are  well  seen  in  the  bluffs.  Their  strike  varies 
little,  and  the  dip  is  southwest,  varying  from  nearly  hori 
zontal  to  forty-five  degrees.  The  river  thus  follows  the  same 
general  direction  as  the  strike  of  the  rocks. 

In  front  of  Traipu,  on  the  opposite  or  Sergipe  side,  there 
is  a  range  of  high  hills,  with  steep  bluff  sides  towards  the 
river,  and  a  long  slope  from  it.  It  is  composed  of  gneissose 
and  schistose  beds,  which,  inclined  at  a  rather  high  angle, 
dip  away  from  the  river.  Lying  on  the  southern  slope  of 
these  hills  is  a  thick  bed  of  a  compact  rock,  which,  in  the 
steep  rocky  sides  bordering  the  river,  as  well  as  in  the  trans 
verse  valleys  separating  the  hills,  forms  a  line  of  bluffs. 


PROVINCES   OF   SERGIPE  AND   ALAGoAS. 


407 


Traipti  is  a  little  village  of  no  importance  on  the  AlagSas 
side.  At  this  place  a  specimen  of  specular  iron  ore,  said 
to  have  come  from  near  Pao  d'Assucar,  was  presented  to 
me.  It  is  equal  in  richness  to  the  Swedish  iron  ores,  and 
if  in  workable  quantity  would  be  very  valuable. 


TEAIPU   FROM    NEAR   MARCACAO. 


At  Marcaqao  flaggy  gneiss,  very  regular  in  stratification, 
is  exposed  on  the  shore.  Strike  N.  35°  W.  Dip  35°  S.  W. 
A  short  distance  above  Traipu  the  same  rocks  with  a  north 
east  dip  are  seen  on  both  sides  of  the  river. 

The  country  above  the  Serra  de  Tabanga  becomes  every 
mile  more  and  more  rocky  and  barren,  while  the  vegetation 
becomes  more  sparse,  consisting  of  small  bushes  with  a  great 
abundance  of  bromeliaceous  plants  of  several  species.  Of 
these  last  there  is  a  very  common  one  known  as  macambira, 
with  narrow  leaves,  bearing  along  their  margin  long  hooked 
spines  arranged  wide  apart.  This  plant  furnishes  a  strong 
fibre,  and  during  the  dry  season  its  roots  contribute  largely 
to  support  the  cattle. 

Several  species  of  Cereus,  some  of  which  attain  the  size 
of  large  trees,  grow  thickly  over  the  rocky  hillsides,  and 


408  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

form  one  of  the  most  characteristic  features  of  the  vegeta 
tion.  One  of  these  is  the  Cliique-Chique,  so  common  on 
barren  and  arid  lands  in  the  interior,  and  so  often  described 
by  travellers. 

One  never  sees  the  Chique-Chique  in  the  zone  of  forest 
and  fertile  lands  bordering  the  coast,  but  as  the  forests  dis 
appear  it  makes  its  appearance,  and  sometimes  grows  to 
the  height  of  forty  feet.  Melocacti*  also  abound,  together 
with  opuntias.f  With  these  are  associated  many  species  of 
croton  and  of  sapotaceous  plants.  There  is  a  species  of 
JBignonia,  B.  Tecoma  Mart.,  very  common  on  the  hills  and 
shores,  sometimes  growing  to  a  height  of  forty  to  fifty  feet, 
with  a  trunk  three  or  four  feet  in  diameter.  Its  foliage  is 
very  light  and  the  flower  is  yellow. 

The  Joazeiro  (Zizyplms  Joazeiro) ,  a  very  beautiful  tree 
with  dense  heavy  green  foliage,  is  quite  frequently  seen  on 
the  river-banks,  together  with  species  of  Azolla,  Mimosa, 
Geoffroya,  Peltophorum,  &c. 

Along  the  river  here  the  meadow  lands  have  become  very 
much  narrowed  down,  and  occupy  only  little  bays  among 
the  hills,  though  sometimes  these  are  only  shut  off  from  the 
river  by  beaches,  and  form  lagSas,  numbers  of  which  we  find 
all  along  the  river.  The  elevated  country  is  of  use  only  for 
pasturing.  The  thinness  of  the  soil  is  not  the  only  reason 
why  the  vegetation  is  so  sparse  and  peculiar.  The  surface  is 
yearly  burned  over  during  the  dry  season,  when  the  cattle 

*  One  of  the  most  interesting  of  these  curious  cactuses  is  a  large  species 
described  by  Gardner  under  the  name  of  Mclocactus  Ilookerianus. 

t  Gardner  speaks  of  the  occurrence  of  a  species  of  cochineal  insect  on  the 
leaves  of  these  plants.  Dr.  Brunei  called  my  attention  to  the  same  fact,  and 
assured  me  that  there  was  no  reason  why  the  insect  should  not  be  successfully 
cultivated. 


PROVINCES   OF   SERGIPE   AND   ALAGOAS.  409 

feed  on  the  cactuses  and  the  roots  of  the  bromeliaceous 
plants. 

The  meadow  grounds  are  sandy  and  not  very  fertile,  but 
during  the  time  when  the  river  is  low,  mandioca,  rice,  beans, 
cotton,  niandubi  *  (Arachis  hypogcea  Linn.)  or  the  pea 
nut,  are  planted,  and  in  front  of  the  numerous  fazendas 
cle  gado,  or  cattle  estates,  and  villages  the  green  plots  of 
these  plantations  bordering  the  river  appear  in  cheerful  con 
trast  with  the  hills  behind,  which  are  scattered  all  over  with 
loose  blocks  of  stone,  and  bristle  with  cactuses. 

The  country  in  the  vicinity  of  Curral  das  Pedras  is  roll 
ing,  and  not  very  high. 

At  Jacobina  there  is  a  lagoa  where  much  rice  is  planted. 
One  man  makes  more  than  1,000^000  per  year  by  renting 
it  for  this  purpose. 

At  Intaes  there  is  a  group  of  high  hills  near  the  river, 
while  others  are  seen  in  the  distance  on  both  sides,  but  the 
country  continues  with  the  same  general  character  nearly  to 
Pao  d'Assucar.  At  Lagoa  Funda,  AlagOas  side,  strike  N. 
30°  E.,  dip.  N.  W.  3°  -  40°.f  Flaggy  gneiss. 

Looking  ahead  from  this  point  there  is  a  very  fine  view, 
the  country  still  presenting  the  same  low  flat  lands,  but  be 
yond  we  see  the  irregular  tops  of  higher  hills,  which  appear 
to  be  of  a  different  structure.  At  Cajueiro  (Alaguas)  strike  f 
X.  36°  E.,  dip  30°  N.  W. 

Passing  the  island  of  Sao  Pedro  the  river  narrows  while 

*  This  curious  and  well-known  plant  is  a  native  of  Africa.  In  Brazil  it  goes 
by  the  name  Amendoim,  Mandubi,  and  Afandubim.  The  second  form  appeai-s  to 
be  the  correct  one.  The  name  is  of  African,  not  Tupi,  origin.  This  plant 
is  largely  cultivated  in  Brazil,  and  is  used  for  the  making  of  sweetmeats.  It 
produces  an  oil  employed  for  burning  and  the  manufacture  of  soap. 

t  Both  these  observations  were  made  as  we  passed  close  along  shore  in  the 
steamer,  and  were  carefully  taken.     Hulfeld  makes  the  strike  northwest. 
VOL.   i.  18 


410 


GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 


the  hills  become  much  higher  and  excessively  rocky,  their 
sides  being  covered  with  blocks  of  stone.  The  rock  is  still 
gneiss,  traversed  by  many  veins. 

A  little  beyond,  the  view  opens  out,  and  one  looks  up  to 
the  town  of  Pao  d'Assucar,  built  on  the  low  ground  bor 
dering  the  shore,  with  a  wall  of  high  hills  in  the  background, 
and  over  them,  seen  away  in  the  distance,  are  the  blue  tops 
of  the  Serra  do  Pao  d'Assucar. 

Pao  d'Assucar  is  a  considerable  village  built  on  the  Ala- 
goas  side  of  the  river,  on  a  high,  narrow  strip  of  alluvial 
ground.  In  this  vicinity  these  alluvial  lands  have  a  con 
siderable  extension,  and  are  well  planted. 


LOOKING   DOWN  THE   RIVER   FROM   PAO    D'ASSUCAR. 

The  rocks  at  Pao  d'Assucar  are  gneiss,  but  siliceous  and 
flaggy.  At  the  upper  end  of  the  village  there  is  a  high, 
sugar-loafed  hill,  which  gives  the  name  to  the  locality.  This 
is  one  of  a  number  of  hills  which  together  form  a  range 
running  southeast,  crossing  the  river  here,  being  continued 
on  the  opposite  side.  The  gneiss  is  vertical,  and  has  a  strike 
of  N.  40°  W.  It  is  seen  in  the  same  position  in  a  prom 
inent  bluff  opposite  the  town  on  the  Sergipe  side.  Between 
the  town  and  the  hills  behind  are  some  quite  extensive 
lagoas,  on  the  borders  of  which  rice  is  planted.  I  ascended 
the  Pao  in  company  with  Mr.  Brunet.  From  the  top  is 
one  of  the  finest  views  I  have  seen  in  Brazil. 


PROVINCES   OF   SERGIPE  AND   ALAGoAS. 


411 


In  the  vicinity  of  Pao  d'Assucar  are  very  many  cattle 
fazendas,  to  which  belong  great  numbers  of  cattle,  and  on 
which  cheese  (requeijao}  and  hides  *  are  manufactured. 


CATTLE   FAZENDA   AND    GARDEN  NEAR  PAO   D'ASSUCAR. 

Immediately  above  Pao  d'Assucar  the  river  narrows 
much,  and  the  banks  become  still  more  steep  and  craggy, 
varying  in  height  from  two  to  three  or  four  hundred  feet. 
The  hills  bordering  the  river  seem  to  be  conical  or  dome- 
shaped,  but  are  really  in  most  cases  the  ends  of  ridges 
cut  across  obliquely  by  the  river. 

In  proportion  as  the  river  narrows,  the  alluvial  deposits 
on  its  banks  grow  higher,  and  at  Entre  Montes,  an  exceed- 

*  The  hides  are  tanned  in  stone  vats,  of  which  each  fazenda  possesses  one 
or  more.  The  process  is  as  follows  :  The  hides  are  cut  in  two  lengthwise  and 
soaked  in  the  river.  They  are  then  placed  in  vats  in  alternate  layers  of  hides  and 
the  ashes  of  Barauna  (Melanoxylon)  or  Catinga  de  Porco.  At  the  end  of  three 
days  the  hair  is  removed.  They  are  then  scraped  and  placed  once  more  in 
the  vats  with  the  bark  of  Angico  stamped  with  water.  This  bark  is  removed 
three  times  in  the  tanning  of  the  best  skins,  the  bark  remaining  each  time  a 
fortnight  on  the  hides.  The  process  is  finished  by  washing  the  skins  and  ex 
tending  them  over  poles  in  the  sun,  when  they  are  pressed  into  boxes  for  expor 
tation.  Many  goat-skins  are  prepared  in  the  same  way.  At  Penedo  I  saw  a 
shoemaker  blacking  leather  by  rubbing  it  over  with  mud  from  the  bottom  of 
a  pond  near  by.  He  assured  me  that  he  used  no  other  preparation,  and  that 
the  mud  alone  gave  a  rich  black  color. 


412  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

ingly  picturesque  little  village  built  in  a  notch  among  hills 
some  seven  hundred  feet  in  elevation,  these  flats  are,  I  should 
judge,  at  least  fifty  feet  high.  At  Allegria  and  Coleite 
the  rock  is  red,  very  homogeneous,  and  compact.  The  river 


VIEW  NEAR    ALLEGEIA. 


becomes  so  narrow  that  in  some  places  it  is  not  more 
than  four  hundred  feet  across,  while  the  precipitous  rocky 
walls,  three  or  four  hundred  feet  high,  make  the  scenery 
of  this  part  of  the  river  exceedingly  fine  and  beautiful. 

Porto  das  Piranhas  is  a  miserable  little  village  built  on  a 
sand  and  gravel  bank  on  the  Alagoas  side  of  the  river,  at 
the  foot  of  the  hills,  which  rise  with  steep  sides  to  a  height 
of  about  seven  hundred  feet,  if  not  more.  The  river  here 
is  somewhat  tortuous,  with  rocky  shores  and  occasional 
rocks  and  ledges.  At  the  upper  end  of  the  village  is  a  sugar- 
loafed  hill  which  I  found  to  be  composed  of  gneiss,  —  strike 
N.  20°  W.,  dip  vertical. 

I  had  been  told  that  the  country  on  top  of  the  hills 
is  flat.  I  climbed  in  a  miserable  rain-storm  to  the  sum 
mit  of  the  steep  slope  behind  Piranhas,  a  height  of  wcllnigh 
seven  hundred  feet,  from  which  in  the  intervals  between 


PROVINCES   OF   SEKGIPE   AND   ALAGSAS.  413 

the  showers  I  was  able  to  look  over  the  whole  country. 
Instead  of  finding  a  chapada  or  absolute  plain  like  that  of 
the  tertiary  regions,  as  I  had  been  led  to  expect,  I  found  the 
general  surface  country  remarkably  even,  but  consisting  of 


VIEW  LOOKING   UP  TOWARDS  PIRANHAS. 

a  great  number  of  very  low  ridges  whose  summits  all  came 
to  nearly  the  same  level.  In  the  distance  on  both  sides 
of  the  river  serras  or  short  chains  of  high,  irregular  hills 
were  visible.  The  whole  seemed  to  be  formed  of  gneiss 
and  other  metamorphic  rocks.  The  surface  of  the  slope 
and  top  was  thickly  strewn  with  blocks,  usually  angular,  and 
of  the  same  material  as  the  surface  on  which  they  lay  ;  how 
ever,  I  did  observe  a  number  of  boulders  of  a  red  syenite  lying 
on  gneiss  ;  but  they  could  not  have  come  from  far,  for  I  saw 
the  same  material  in  place  quite  close  to  the  edge  of  the 
river  valley  above.  Soil  there  was  scarcely  any,  and  the 
red  clay  and  pebble  sheet  were  absent.  Rounded  boulders 
were  abundant.  It  is  not  possible  that  these  boulders  could 
have  been  the  result  of  decomposition,  for  this  action  has 
obtained  here  to  only  a  very  slight  extent.  My  stay  at 
Piranhas  was  necessarily  limited  to  a  few  hours,  which  I 


414  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL    GEOGRAPHY. 

very  much  regretted,  for  I  have  seen  no  region  on  the 
Brazilian  coast  where  polished  and  scratched  surfaces  would 
be  more  likely  to  be  preserved  than  here. 

Halfeld  gives  it  as  his  opinion  that  gold  may  be  found 
in  the  vicinity  of  Porto  das  Piranhas,  but  I  do  not  consider 
it  probable.  The  same  author  describes  the  country  from 
Piranhas  to  the  celebrated  falls  of  Paulo  Affonso  as  being 
remarkably  even,  and  composed  of  granite,  which  is,  I  sup 
pose,  compact  gneiss,  or,  in  part  at  least,  syenite  ;  the  rock 
over  which  the  falls  precipitate  themselves  being  of  the 
same  material.  My  good  friend  Mr.  Franz  Wagner  of  Ba- 
hia,  who  tarried  behind  our  party  to  visit  the  falls,  said 
that  the  rock  was  sandstone.  Burton  speaks  of  sandstone 
as  occurring  there,  and  of  a  conglomerate  at  the  rapids  of 
Itaparica,  a  short  distance  above  the  falls. 

On  the  road  to  the  falls  from  Porto  das  Piranhas  is  a 
serra  called  Serra  d'Olho  d'Agua,  where  occurs  a  sandstone. 
This  rock,  according  to  the  reports  of  some  friends  who 
visited  the  falls  shortly  after  I  left  Piranhas,  is  white  and 
much  denuded.  Halfeld  represents  it  as  dipping  irreg 
ularly  from  the  hills  northward  and  northwestward,  and 
he  indicates  a  locality  where  sandstone  occurs  at  the  Ca- 
choeira  Cancamunhi  d'Acima. 

The  Falls  of  Paulo  Affonso  are  situated  about  56  leagues, 
or  168  miles,  from  the  sea.*  I  have  not  been  able  to  visit 
them,  so  I  translate  a  few  selections  from  Halfeld's  descrip 
tion  of  the  cataracts  and  of  the  neighboring  country :  f  — 

"The  first  fall,  44  palms  6  inches  [about  33  feet]  in  height, 
throws  itself  into  a  basin  garnished  by  granitic  rocks  almost 
perpendicular,  and  sometimes  even  overhanging  the  river;  from 

*  Liais  says  300  kilometres. 

t  I  quote  from  his  Explora^ao  do  Rio  de  Sao  Francisco. 


PROVINCES   OF   SERGIPE  AND   ALAGOAS.  415 

this  basin  the  river  makes  a  sharp  turn  to  the  left  at  a  right  an 
gle,  and  precipitates  itself  between  steep  rocks  into  the  bottom  of 
an  abyss  66  palms  and  1  inch  in  height,  transforming  themselves 
in  consequence  of  this  leap  apparently  into  milk  foam,  casting  and 


CACHOEIKA   DE   PAULO   AFFONSO.* 

blowing  up,  similar  to  the  explosion  of  a  mine,  great  masses  of 
water  into  the  air,  which  are  turned  into  a  vapor  that  rises  still 
higher Transferred  by  this  fall  into  a  river  of  milk,  the  wa 
ters  precipitate  themselves  in  great  billows  and  waves,  and  be 
tween  towering  masses  of  granite,  beating  at  a  right  angle  against 
the  left  bank  of  the  river.  This  side  consists  of  a  native  granite 
rock,  which  is  365  palms  [about  250  feet]  high  above  the  surface 
of  the  water,  and  having  still  120  palms  of  depth,  f 

*  I  regret  not  to  be  able  to  give  a  better  view  of  these  falls,  but  the  photo 
graph  from  which  it  was  drawn  was  not  a  good  one.  I  am  assured,  however,  it 
gives  a  better  idea  of  the  falls  than  any  other  sketch  yet  published. 

I  "  Resscrre  entre  deux  immenses  murailles  de  pierre,  il  coule  d'abord  en 
torrent  et  sur  un  fond  dont  la  de'clivite  accroit  la  vitesse,  puis  tout  a  coup  il  se 
precipite  en  trois  chutes  conse'cutives  dont  la  hauteur  re'unie  et  de  84  metres. 


416  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

"  The  impetus  with  which  the  waters  precipitate  themselves 
against  this  wall  makes  them  constantly  ascend  and  descend  from 
the  point  of  contact  with  the  rock.  On  the  right  they  descend 
in  a  right  angle  to  the  bed  of  the  river  below ;  but  to  the  left,  as 
they  have  no  way  of  egress,  they  produce,  in  consequence  of  their 
advancing  and  retiring  movement,  a  come-and-go  like  the  waves 
of  the  sea  on  the  shores,  from  which  has  resulted,  for  thousands 
of  years  up  to  the  present  time,  not  only  the  wearing  away  of  the 
rock,  and  the  formation  of  a  little  bay,  but  even  of  a  cavern  in  the 
rock,  which  is  444  palms  in  length,  and  whose  mouth  is  80  palms 
high  and  40  broad,  divided  in  the  interior  into  two  great  halls,  the 
dwelling-place  of  thousands  of  bats,  and  for  this  reason  called 
Furna  dos  Morcegos 

"The  rock  in  which  ihisfurna  is  formed,  as  well  as  in  all  the  ex 
tension  of  the  Cachoeira,  is  of  the  hardest  granite,  of  a  fine  grain, 
and  in  truth  it  is  incomprehensible  how  it  should  be  possible  for 
the  waters  to  form  such  a  cavern  in  a  rock  of  so  great  hardness.  I 
am  inclined  to  attribute  this  fact  to  the  circumstance  that  the 
granite  in  the  direction  of  the  cavern,  as  well  as  in  that  of  the 
river,  from  the  mouth  of  the  cavern  below  to  the  Riacho  da  Gan- 
gorra,  presents  many  veins  of  calcareous  spar,  of  flesh-colored  feld 
spar  and  quartz,  which  have  a  thickness  of  £  to  5  inches.  The 
granite  by  the  sides  of  these  veins  is  less  hard,  and  sometimes  is 
decomposed  and  saturated  with  muriate  of  soda  [salt],  in  such 
abundance  that  those  living  near  the  fall  mine  this  stone  on  a 

small  scale  to  extract  the  salt I  am  inclined  to  think  that 

the  circumstances  now  indicated  with  respect  to  the  ready  decom- 

La  derniere  de  ccs  chutes,  la  plus  grande  des  trois  n'a  pas  moins  de  10  metres 

d'altitude La  compression  de  1'air  a  la  surface  des  eaux  apres  la  chute  est 

telle,  qu'une  pierre  lancee  avec  la  plus  grande  force  nc  pout  re'sister  au  vent 
resultant,  de  sorte  quo  sa  vitesse  est  ane'antie  apres  un  parcours  de  6-7  metres. 
Cctte  particularite*  a  rcpandu,  parmi  les  habitants  des  environs  1'opinion  que  le 
lieu  de  la  cascade  est  enchante'."  (Liais,  Bulletin  de  la  Soc.  de  Gtog.,  5me  Serie, 
XI.  pp.  390-392.) 


PKOVINCES   OF   SERGIPE   AND   ALAGOAS,  417 

position  of  that  rock,  over  the  breadth  which  comprises  all  the 
veins  mentioned,  probably  determined  the  excavation  of  the  cav 
ern  below,  —  a  circumstance  which  would  have  given  place  to  the 
formation  and  present  existence  of  the  falls,  whose  bed  is  really 
excavated  in  the  rock,  since,  for  a  great  distance  on  both  sides  of 
the  steep  banks  of  the  river,  the  soil  presents  a  plain  without  hills 
or  serras,  which  could  have  determined  the  cataract  of  Paulo 
Affonso. 

"  From  Paulo  Affonso  down  the  river  to  Porto  das  Piranhas, 
the  waters  of  the  river  are  narrowed  and  run  with  many  falls 
between  steep  rocks  of  350  to  800  palms  in  height,  which, 
with  the  exception  of  a  very  few  places,  as  at  Porto  do  Salgado, 
Monto  Escuro,  Sitio  Novo,  &c.,  are  inaccessible  to  allow  of  descent 
to  the  river.  These  cliffs  are  commonly  called  here  Talhado  [or 
Talhadao],  since  the  width  of  the  river  is  generally  reduced  to  a 
few  hundreds  of  palms  and  sometimes  less,  as  in  the  falls  of  the 
Garganta,  where  the  river  is  only  85  palms  wide,  and  runs  like 
a  mill-race  between  perpendicular  walls  of  rock  350  palms  in 
height." 

The  falls  of  Paulo  Affonso  are  of  the  same  class  as  those 
of  the  Jequitinhonha  at  Salto  Grande.  In  both  cases  a  large 
river  just  before  it  reaches  the  edge  of  the  plateau,  and 
flowing  a  broad  stream  with  a  wide  flood  plain,  dashes  first 
down  a  slope  forming  a  series  of  rapids,  and  then,  a  few  miles 
farther  on,  contracting  suddenly,  plunges  in  a  magnificent 
series  of  cascades  and  rapids  into  a  narrow  valley,  in  which, 
with  a  swift  and  rock-impeded  course,  it  descends  to  the 
coast  plains,  where  it  spreads  out  widely  and  flows  calmly, 
proudly  on  to  the  sea.  The  river  is,  so  to  speak,  strangled 
in  the  Estreito,  or  Talhadao.  As  the  rocks  of  the  regions 
cut  through  by  the  falls  of  Salto  Grande  and  Paulo  Affonso 
are  both  crystalline  and  highly  inclined t  it  is  manifest  that 

18*  AA 


418  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

their  retrocession  must  have  operated  in  a  very  different 
manner  from  that  of  the  falls  of  Niagara,  and  that  the  time 
occupied  by  the  excavation  of  the  gorge  below  the  Brazilian 
falls  cannot  be  estimated  according  to  the  same  rule.  I 
should  judge  that  the  falls  of  Paulo  Affonso  are  finer  than 
those  of  Sal  to  Grande  at  ordinary  times  ;  but  when  the 
Jequitinhonha  is  swollen  the  Salto  must  be  a  grand  sight. 
Both  these  falls,  as  navigation  on  the  coast  and  on  the  rivers 
becomes  more  prompt  and  commodious,  will  erelong  be 
come  well  known  to  travellers.  Burton,  who  visited  Paulo 
Affonso  in  1867,  says,  that  if  Niagara  be  the  monarch  of 
falls,  Paulo  Affonso  is  the  king  of  rapids.  Liais  thinks  that, 
seen  close  at  hand,  the  latter  exceed  the  former  in  magnifi 
cence.* 

Halfield,  speaking  of  the  Riacho  da  Yaca,  says  :  f  "At  its 
mouth  on  the  south  side  of  the  river  is  the  Lagoa  da  Pedra, 
where  I  found  the  fossil  bones  of  a  mastodon.  The  lagoon, 
which  consists  of  a  concavity  or  basin,  is  surrounded  by  great 
cliffs  of  the  said  rock,  and  is  seventy  paces  in  length,  ten 
in  width,  and  ten  to  twenty-five  palms  in  depth.  It  was  full 
of  earth,  sand,  and  gravel  in  beds.  Of  these  the  lower  about 
twenty  years  ago  contained  the  bones  of  a  mastodon.  The 
neighbors,  residents  of  the  Lagfia  da  Pedra,  had  commenced 

*  "  Vue  a  distance  la  cascade  de  Niagara  1'emporte  done  en  magnificence 
sur  celle  de  Paulo  Affonso,  mais  dc  pros,  1'avantnge  est  pour  le  San-Francisco, 
dont  les  eaux  furieuses  se  rclevent  avec  plus  de  violence  et  forment  unc  serie 
d'immenses  vagues  chargecs  d'ecume.  L'cffet  de  cos  grandes  vagues,  d'ou  sort, 
comme  de  la  chute  elle-meme,  une  gigantesque  colonne  de  vapeur,  ajoute  a  la 
splendour  du  spectacle,  et  la  force  expansive  de  1'air  que  les  eaux,  dans  cet 
etroit  canal,  entraincnt  ct  comprimcnt  au  pied  dc  la  chute,  produit  une  sorte 
d'ouragan  dont  la  puissance  contribue  a  accroitre  1'extension  de  cette  immense 
colonne  de  poussiere  aqueuse."  (Liais..  Bulletin  de  la  Soc.  (Jeog.,  5me  Serie,  XI. 
p.  391.) 

t  Description  of  the  328th  league. 


PROVINCES   OF   SERGIPE   AND   ALAGoAS.  419 

to  dig  out  this  cavity,  in  order  that  it  might  be  made  to 
serve  as  a  reservoir  for  the  water  of  the  rains,  and  as  a 
drinking-place  for  cattle  ;  there  then  appeared  at  the  cutting 
the  bones  of  a  mastodon,  which  they  threw  outside  the  basin, 
but  the  intended  excavation  was  never  completed,  and  two 
thirds  of  its  length  remained  full  of  soil  in  which,  at  the 
head  of  the  ancient  opening  still  appeared  the  points  of 
bones  of  large  dimensions."  From  this  vicinity,  a  few  years 
ago,  an  immense  collection  of  bones,  teeth,  &c.,  of  masto 
dons  were  collected  and  sent  to  Rio,  where  they  may  now 
be  seen  in  the  Public  Museum. 

"  The  country  for  a  considerable  distance  around  the  hill 
mentioned  presents  an  extensive  plain,  over  which  are 
found  dispersed  thousands  of  enormous  loose  rocks  of  gran 
ite,  and  sometimes  superimposed  one  on  the  other,  and  set 
sometimes  only  upon  a  point  or  very  small  base  without 
falling." 

I  have  already  remarked  the  character  of  the  country 
above  the  Serra  de  Tabanga,  the  want  of  a  soil,  the  way 
in  which  the  surface  is  strewn  by  blocks  of  stone,  and  also 
the  little  amount  of  disintegration  which  it  has  suffered .  I 
cannot  conceive  how  these  loose  masses  could  have  resulted 
from  decomposition,  without  showing  some  evidence  of  it 
in  a  much  decomposed  surface  and  an  abundant  soil.  The 
surface  of  the  country  looks  precisely  like  that  of  our  drift- 
covered  regions  of  the  North. 

Halfeld  states  that  granite  occurs  as  the  foundation  rock 
of  the  country  for  many  leagues  up  the  river  beyond  the 
falls.  The  term  as  used  by  him  is  rather  too  comprehensive, 
and  may  comprise  gneiss  and  syenite. 

The  Serra  de  Itaparica,  which  forms  a  long,  sharp-backed, 
narrow  ridge  720  palms  high,  which  runs  from  the  river  nine 


420  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

leagues  above  the  Oachoeira  de  Paulo  Affoiiso  to  the  west 
ward  for  several  miles,  is,  according  to  the  same  author,  com 
posed  of  sandstone.  "  The  sandstone  in  the  top  of  the 
serra  is  of  a  fine,  but  the  lower  beds  are  of  coarse  grain  to 
the  base,  which  is  situated  upon  granite  of  extreme  hard 
ness,  where  it  forms  beds  of  coarse  gravel."  *  This  sand 
stone  is  doubtless  of  the  same  series  as  that  of  the  Serra 
d'Olho  d'Agua.  Many  of  the  other  hills  of  the  vicinity  are 
also  composed  of  this  sandstone. 

The  whole  country  was  evidently  once  overspread  by  a 
sheet  of  this  rock,  and  has  subsequently  suffered  very  exten 
sive  denudation. 

The  climate  of  the  Lower  Sao  Francisco  presents  some 
interesting  features.  On  the  coast  rains  are  frequent  and 
plentiful,  and  along  the  shore,  as  already  remarked,  there 
is  a  belt  of  forest.  Inland,  however,  the  climate  becomes 
more  dry  ;  three  or  four  months  of  the  year —  June,  July, 
and  August  —  are  usually  without  rain,  and  everything  dries 
up.  The  heavy  rains,  as  a  general  thing,  begin  in  March. 
The  river  rises  to  a  great  height,  and  sometimes  overflows  the 
high  banks  on  which  the  towns  of  Propria  and  Piranhas  are 
built,  inundating  the  lower  stories  of  the  houses.  At  both 
places  I  saw  the  muddy  line  along  the  fronts  of  the  houses 
left  by  the  last  freshet.  Such  an  immense  volume  of  water 
pouring  tumultuously  through  the  racecourse-like  channel 
between  the  falls  and  Piranhas,  and,  as  at  Propria,  spread 
ing  out  over  and  inundating  the  extensive  low  grounds, 
converting  them  into  a  great  lake,  must  be  a  grand  spectacle. 
The  annual  overflow  takes  place  in  October  and  lasts  until 
March,  during  which  time  it  is  raining  in  the  highlands. 

Nothing  strikes  one  more  strongly  on  the  Sao  Francisco 

*  Exploraydo  do  Rio  de  Sao  Francisco,  p.  44.  • 


PROVINCES   OF   SERGIPE   AND   ALAG(Us.  421 

than  the  regularity  with  which  the  winds  rise  and  blow.  In 
the  morning  I  used  to  look  out  of  my  window  at  Penedo ; 
all  was  still,  and  the  river  was  without  a  ripple.  Canoes 
and  montarias  dropped  down  on  the  current,  and  all  was 
repose.  About  nine  o'clock  *  a  breeze  from  the  sea  stole 
over  the  water,  ruffling  its  surface  with  ripple-patches ; 
this  increased  gradually,  until  at  noon  a  stiff  wind  was 
sweeping  inland  ;  the  montarias  spread  their  picturesque 
sails  and  scudded  before  it  up  the  river  ;  thus  steadily  the 
breeze  continued  until  well  into  the  night,  when  it  hushed 
down,  and  a  calm  morning  again  dawned  on  the  rippleless 
river.  This  sea-breeze  is  perfectly  regular.  Boats  can  sail 
up  the  river,  but  they  must  drift  or  be  rowed  down. 

The  Lower  Sao  Francisco  below  Piranhas  admits  of  navi 
gation  by  small  steamers  and  sailing  craft  during  the  whole 
year.  In  August,  1867,  the  river  above  Penedo  was  formally 
opened  to  steam  navigation  by  the  Bahia  Steam  Navigation 
Company,  but  Penedo  has  been  in  communication  with  Pcr- 
nambuco  and  Bahia  for  some  time.  Through  the  politeness 
of  my  friends,  Mr.  Hugh  Wilson,  the  able  superintendent 
of  the  company,  and  Dr.  Anto.  de  Lacerda,  I  was  enabled 
to  participate  in  the  fete ;  and  to  them  I  owe  the  oppor 
tunities  I  afterwards  enjoyed  of  making  the  observations 
recorded  above.  To  Dr.  de  Lacerda  and  Dr.  Brunet,  who 
accompanied  me  on  the  voyage,  I  am  indebted  for  valuable 
contributions  to  my  note-book.  I  take  pleasure  in  express 
ing  here  my  gratitude  to  these  gentlemen  for  their  kind 
ness. 

The  country  below  Proprid  is  very  fertile,  and  there  are 
large  areas  of  rich  lands  admirably  adapted  to  the  culti- 

*  Gardner  says  that  the  sea  breeze  reaches  Penedo  about  noon,  which  is 
not  correct. 


422  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

vation  of  sugar-cane,  cotton,  mandioca,  &c.  The  region 
above  Propria  is  proper  for  grazing.  The  whole  Lower  Sao 
Francisco  forms  a  district  of  much  promise. 

The  coast  of  the  province  of  Alagoas  is  formed  by  a 
broad  belt  of  tertiary  lands  of  the  same  general  character  as 
those  south  of  Bahia.  The  country  embraced  in  this  belt 
is  a  vast  elevated  plain  two  or  three  hundred  feet  above  the 
sea.  The  western  or  interior  part  of  the  province  is  a  table 
land  of  gneiss,  the  continuation  northward  of  the  gneiss 
district  of  the  Sao  Francisco  already  described.  It  is  dry, 
barren,  and  fit  only  for  grazing. 

At  Jequia,  some  miles  south  of  Maceio,  the  tertiary  bluffs 
come  down  to  the  sea  line,  forming  a  long  range  of  cliffs  of 
a  bright  red  color,  like  the  Barreiras  do  Siri.  In  the  south, 
I  know  of  only  one  lake  which  occupies  a  basin  of  denuda 
tion  in  this  tertiary  sheet,  and  that  is  the  Lagoa  Juparanaa 
on  the  Rio  Doce  ;  but  in  the  province  of  Alagoas  there  are 
several  such  lakes,  and  it  is  from  them  that  the  province 
takes  its  name.  These  lakes  in  Alaguas  are  long  and  nar 
row,  and  have  usually  a  northwest  trend.  The  valleys  occu 
pied  by  the  LagQa  do  Norte  at  Macei6,  and  of  the  Lagoa 
do  Sul  a  short  distance  to  the  south  of  Maceio,  open  out 
broadly  to  the  sea  ;  but  a  strip  of  sand  more  or  less  wide, 
extending  across  their  mouths,  bars  out  the  sea.  The 
Lagoa  do  Norte  at  Macei6  is  salt.  It  abounds  in  fish,  and 
it  is  said  that  sea-turtles  are  found  in  it.  The  Lagoa  do 
Norte  at  Maceio  strongly  reminds  one  of  the  lakes  of  Central 
New  York,  —  Cayuga  or  Seneca,  for  instance.  These  lakes 
of  Alagoas,  as  well  as  Juparanaa,  are  very  deep,  and  their 
basins  must  have  been  excavated  at  a  time  when  the  land 
stood  at  a  greater  height  than  at  present. 

The  city  of  Macei6  is  built  at  the  mouth  of  one  of  the 


PROVINCES   OF   SERGIPE   AND   ALAG^AS.  423 

largest  of  these  valleys,  and  at  the  foot  of  the  Lag8a  do 
Korte.  The  entrance  to  the  valley  is  barred  by  a  wide  strip 
of  recently  elevated  sands,  covered  with  a  low  and  sparse 
vegetation,  consisting  of  clumps  of  bushes,  among  which  the 
aroeira  (Sehinus  terebinthifolius~),  as  Gardner  has  remarked, 
is  very  abundant,  together  with  species  of  Diospyrus,  Esch- 
weilera,  Uriocaulon,  Marcetia,  Cereus,  Melocactus,  &c.  The 
lagua  communicates  with  the  sea  by  a  narrow  channel  across 
this  flat.  The  tertiary  plains  are  almost  perfectly  level,  and 
come  down  close  to  the  coast  line.  They  have  steep  slopes 
towards  the  lakes,  and  the  same  towards  the  sea,  where,  at 
their  feet,  lie  sand  plains  ;  but  they  are  precipitous  when  the 
sea  washes  their  -base.  The  average  height  of  these  tertiary 
plains  along  the  coast  is  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet, 
though  they  evidently  rise  gradually  toward  the  interior  as 
they  do  elsewhere.  From  the  top  of  the  lighthouse  at 
Maceio,  built  on  the  edge  of  this  plain,  the  eye  ranges  for  a 
long  distance  both  up  and  down  the  coast,  and  into  the 
interior.  Save  the  depression  of  the  lagua,  the  country, 
appears  from  the  sea  to  be  level ;  but  inland,  at  the  dis 
tance  of  a  few  leagues,  are  visible  the  tops  of  a  few  hills, 
evidently  of  some  earlier  formation,  but  probably  gneiss. 
The  slopes  of  the  tertiary  lands,  as  elsewhere,  are  fertile  and 
heavily  wooded,  but  the  higher  plain  is  as  usual  exceedingly 
dry,  supporting  a  dense  growth  of  small  bushes,  with  many 
Licuri  palms.  The  character  of  the  vegetation  is,  as  I  have 
already  remarked  in  speaking  of  the  Rio  de  Sao  Francisco, 
not  wholly  due  to  natural  causes  ;  for  this  whole  country 
has  been  repeatedly  burned  over,  and  the  virgin  forest  de 
stroyed.  During  the  political  disturbances  a  few  years  ago 
large  tracts  were  fired  purposely. 

A  stranger  will  occasionally  observe  in  the  pavement  of 


424  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

the  streets  palasozoic  rocks  containing  a  few  fossils,  which 
might  mislead  one  if  he  did  not  know  that  they  were  brought 
thither  from  North  America  as  ballast.  Large  quantities 
of  the  finer  qualities  of  Rio  de  Janeiro  gneiss  are  carried 
along  the  coast,  and  used  both  for  building  and  paving ;  but 
it  is  of  so  peculiar  a  quality  that  one  learns  to  recognize 
it  immediately  wherever  it  is  found. 

The  upper  beds  of  the  tertiary  sheet  are  well  exposed  in 
a  cliff  and  cutting  on  the  side  of  the  spur  on  which  the 
lighthouse  is  built,  behind  the  Matriz  church.  The  lower 

O  7 

bed  seen  consists  of  a  soft  yellowish  or  reddish  argillaceous 
sandstone,  very  loose  in  texture  and  full  of  quartz  pebbles, 
which  are  arranged  in  layers  and  lenticular  masses.  There 
are  some  pebbles  of  a  white  substance  that  looks  like  de 
composed  feldspar.  The  fragments  of  quartz,  whether  in  the 
form  of  pebbles  or  sand-grains,  are  more  or  less  rounded. 
Over  this  lies  a  thick  mass,  very  indistinctly  stratified,  of 
red,  pink,  and  white  variegated  soft,  friable  argillaceous 
sandstone,  of  the  same  general  character  as  that  found 
in  the  southern  part  of  the  province  of  Espirito  Santo,  and 
at  Para  on  the  Amazonas.  The  colors  of  these  beds  are 
very  warm,  and  are  distributed  unevenly.  Over  all  is  a 
layer  of  clay  and  soil  with  pebbles  beneath,  like  the  usual 
drift  coating  of  the  tertiary  plains. 

The  tertiary  coast  belt  extends,  to  my  knowledge,  some 
thirty  to  forty  miles  above  Macei6,  and  I  have  seen  the 
same  kind  of  a  coast  fifty  miles  south  of  Pernambuco. 

The  flat-topped  hills  in  the  vicinity  of  Cape  Sant.  Augus- 
tinho  are  portions  of  this  sheet,  which  is  much  worn  away 
in  the  vicinity  of  Pernambuco.  The  country  back  of  Per 
nambuco  is  quite  hilly,  and  it  is  probable  that  cretaceous 
rocks  will  be  found  there. 


PROVINCES   OF   SERGIPE   AND  ALAGiUs.  425 

Northward  of  Pernambuco  I  have  seen  the  same  kind 
of  coast  in  the  province  of  Rio  Grande,  where  the  lands 
are  precisely  like  those  of  Maceio,  the  valleys  having  the 
same  steeply  sloping  sides  so  characteristic  of  the  tertiary 
plains. 

The  city  of  Maceio  is  a  town  of  respectable  size,  built 
a  short  distance  inland,  in  part  on  a  slight  elevation  at  the 
base  of  the  bluffs  on  the  north  side  of  the  valley.  On  the 
sea-shore  is  built  the  town  of  Jaragud,  which  is  the  port  of 
Maceio.  The  flat  lands  in  the  vicinity  of  Maceio  are  cov 
ered  with  cocoa  palms,  which  give  to  the  place  a  very  pretty 
appearance.  Dende  palms  are  also  numerous,  and  I  saw 
a  few  date  palms  which  bore  fruit.  A  few  specimens  of  the 
Assahi  {Euterpe  oleracea)  of  the  Amazonas  are  found  here. 

The  harbor  is  formed  by  a  line  of  coral  reefs,  which  extend 
off  shore  at  a  distance  of  half  a  mile  or  more,  and  protect 
shipping  from  the  northeast  winds ;  but  the  harbor  is  not 
well  protected  during  southerly  storms,  and,  what  is  worse, 
it  is  filling  up  by  the  drift  of  sands  over  the  reef.  The 
shore  is  a  sand  beach,  from  which  long  piers  are  built  out ; 
but  owing  to  the  sea,  the  shipping  cannot  come  along 
side,  and  goods  are  landed  in  lighters.  The  principal  trade 
of  the  city  consists  in  sugar,  cotton,  <fcc.,  which  are  princi 
pally  sent  to  Pernambuco.  As  above  remarked,  the  upper 
plain  appears  to  be  very  dry  ;  and  in  the  vicinity  of  Macei6, 
at  least,  is  not  cultivated.  The  slopes  of  the  tertiary  lands 
are  very  fertile,  and  usually  very  heavily  wooded  ;  as  also 
are  the  alluvial  lands  bordering  the  lake,  which  last  are 
extensively  planted. 

The  water  of  Macei6  is  bad  ;  at  the  time  of  my  visit  steps 
were  being  taken  to  supply  the  city  with  good  water  from 
the  river  Bebidouro. 


426  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

The  Companhia  Bahiana  was  about  to  put  two  little 
steamers  on  the  Lagoa  do  Norte. 

While  at  Maceio,  I  heard  a  Schisto  bituminoso  spoken  of 
as  occurring  in  the  low  lands  near  the  Lagoa  do  Sul.  I  was 
unable  to  visit  the  locality,  but,  from  the  information  I  re 
ceived,  it  seems  to  be  an  inflammable  vegetable  deposit  of 
very  recent  date,  underlying  the  sands  of  a  plain  similar  to 
the  lower  plain  of  Maceio. 


PROVINCE   OF   PERNAMBUCO.  427 


CHAPTER    X. 

PROVINCE     OF    PERNAMBUCO. 

The  Limits,  Area,  &c.,  of  the  Province.  —  Its  Topography,  Geology,  Climate, 
Soils,  &c.  —  The  Rivers.  —  Productions  of  the  Province.  —  The  City  of  Per- 
nambuco  or  Recife.  —  Derivation  of  these  Names.  —  Situation  of  the  City.  — 
The  Stone  Reef.  —  The  Port  formed  by  it.  —  Shallowness  of  Water  along  this 
part  of  the  Coast.  —  ternambuco  a  Calling  Station  for  Foreign  Shipping.  — 
The  Pernambuco  and  Sao  Francisco  Railroad.  —  Table  of  Heights  along  the 
Line.  —  Island  of  Itamaraca.  —  Fossilifcrous  Limestones. — Fertility  of  the 
Island,  Cocoa  Palm  Groves,  &c.  —  Fernando  de  Noronha.  —  Darwin's  De 
scription  of  the  Geology  of  the  Island.  —  Its  Dryness  and  Sterility. 

THIS  rich  and  populous  province  has  been  so  little  ex 
plored  by  the  physical  geographer  and  geologist,  that  it  is 
not  possible  to  give  more  than  a  very  general  sketch  of  its 
physical  features,  —  a  sketch  which  the  writer  hopes  future 
explorations  may  help  him  to  fill  out  with  needed  detail. 

The  province  comprises  the  northern  side  of  the  basin  of 
the  Rio  de  Sao  Francisco  from  the  point  called  Pao  d'Arara 
to  the  Rio  Moxoto,  a  few  miles  above  the  Cachoeira  de 
Paulo  Affonso.  East  of  that  point  the  little  province  of 
Alaguas  is  wedged  in  between  it  and  the  Sao  Francisco. 
The  coast  line  of  the  province  is  only  about  forty-four 
leagues  in  length.  The  superficial  area  of  the  province  is 
variously  estimated  at  from  4,467  (Pompeo)  to  7,200  square 
leagues  of  twenty  to  a  degree.* 

The  province  is  separated  from  that  of  Piauhy  by  the 
narrow  plateau  known  under  the  name  of  the  Serra  dos 

*  Dr.  Almeida,  in  his  Atlas,  makes  it  5,287. 


428  GEOLOGY  AXD  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

Dois  Irmaos  and  Serra  Vermelha.  From  Ceara  it  is 
separated  by  the  chapadas  or  plateaus  known  under  the 
name  of  Serra  Araripe*,  while  the  Serra  dos  Cairiris  Vel- 
hos  separates  it  from  the  province  of  Parahyba,  which  lies 
just  to  the  north.  Farther  on,  in  treating  of  the  province 
of  Piauhy  and  Ceara,  I  shall  discuss  the  facts  we  possess 
relative  to  the  structure  of  the  Serras  Dous  Irmaos  and 
Araripe,  which,  as  already  remarked,  appear  to  consist  in 
the  main  of  a  narrow  strip  of  horizontally  disposed  tertiary 
sandstones  lying  along  the  summit  of  a  ridge  of  metamorphic 
rock. 

We  have  already  seen  from  Halfeld,  Burton,  and  others, 
that  the  part  of  the  province  bordering  the  Rio  de  Sao 
Francisco  is  composed  of  much  disturbed  gneissose  and 
other  metamorphic  rocks,  here  and  there  overlaid  by  patches 
of  horizontal  sandstones  and  associated  rocks,  like  those  of 
the  Sao  Francisco  valley  farther  up.  The  great  mass  of  the 
western  part  of  the  country  appears  to  be  formed  of  gneiss, 
mica-schist,  &c.,  and  these  rocks  here  and  there  afford  gold, 
but,  so  far  as  I  can  learn,  not  to  any  very  large  extent.  Of 
the  mountain  ranges  of  the  province  next  to  nothing  is 
known,  and  they  are  very  inaccurately  represented  on  the 
maps.  From  the  description  of  some  who  have  visited  the 
Serra  dos  Cairiris  Velhos,  it  would  appear  that  they  were  in 
part  formed  of  horizontal  sandstones  like  the  Serra  Araripe. 
Some  of  the  mountains  of  the  interior  of  the  province  are 
of  considerable  elevation,  though  I  cannot  learn  that  any 
exceed  4,000  feet  in  height.* 

Pompeo  f  says  that  the  coast  for  a  width  of  ten  to  fifteen 

*  Some  of  these  highlands  are  visible  from  the  sea,  as  for  instance  the  Serra 
Sellada,  which  one  sees  lying  a  few  leagues  back  of  Cape  St.  Augustinho. 
t  Geographia,  p.  425. 


PROVINCE    OF   PERNAMBUCO.  429 

leagues  is  low.  This  portion  is  covered  in  part  by  quite 
heavy  woods.  It  is  very  fertile,  and  is  called  mattas.  Be 
yond  this  there  is  another  zone  of  uneven,  undulating  coun 
try  covered  by  carrasco,  and  dry,  but  it  produces  large  crops 
of  cotton  and  vegetables.  The  interior,  which  goes  by  the 
name  of  sertdo,  is  very  mountainous,  stony,  and  dry,  being 
fit  for  nothing  but  pasturage. 

The  same  author  says  that  "  the  interior,  principally  on 
the  borders  of  the  Sao  Francisco  and  of  the  province  of 
Piauhy  is  subject  to  droughts,  like  the  provinces  of  the  north  ; 
still  it  does  not  present  the  sandy  deserts  and  the  verdurous 
oases  seen  by  the  traveller  Koster."  * 

The  coast  is  low,  and,  generally  speaking,  resembles  that 
of  the  province  of  Alagoas  ;  consisting  along  the  shore  of  a 
more  or  less  wide  strip  of  tertiary  beds,  which,  though 
sometimes  extensively  denuded,  form  high  red  cliffs  pre 
sented  to  the  sea,  as  in  the  vicinity  of  Cape  St.  Augustiiiho. 
Underlying  these  arc  in  some  localities  cretaceous  rocks 
which  have  never  been  carefully  examined.  The  tertiary 
beds  have  been  swept  away  over  considerable  tracts  which 
were  occupied  by  the  sea  just  previous  to  the  last  rise  of 
the  coast,  forming  deep  indentations  in  the  coast  line.  On 
such  an  indentation,  now  filled  up  with  sand  and  alluvial  de 
posits,  the  city  of  Pernambuco  now  stands.  I  am  exceed 
ingly  sorry  that,  though  I  have  three  different  times  visited 
Pernambuco,  I  have  never  been  able  to  examine  the  high 
lands  in  its  vicinity.  Mr.  E.  Williamson,  in  a  short  paper  pre 
sented  to  the  Manchester  Geological  Society,  and  published 
in  the  Proceedings  of  that  society,  says,  that  "  at  Caxinga,  a 
few  miles  out  from  Pernambuco,  several  fine  sections  of  the 
sands  and  marls  "  of  the  tertiary  "  have  been  exposed  by 

*  Loc.  cit. 


430  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

land-slips  ;  the  strata  here  bear  such  a  resemblance  to  the 
new  red  sandstone  of  our  own  districts,  that  it  would  be 
impossible  by  color  and  appearance  alone  to  distinguish 
one  from  the  other." 

The  lands  over  large  areas  near  the  coast  are  very  fer 
tile,  and  produce  excellent  sugar-cane  and  cotton. 

All  the  drainage  of  the  middle  and  western  part  of  the 
province  is  into  the  Sao  Francisco.  Some  of  the  streams 
are  quite  large  ;  but,  as  has  been  remarked  by  Cazal,*  they 
disappear  in  the  dry  season,  and  the  same  is  the  case  with  the 
majority  of  the  rivers  of  the  eastern  part  of  the  province, 
which  flow  into  the  sea.  During  the  rains  the  streams,  like 
those  of  Bahia,  swell  tremendously,  but  in  dry  weather  they 
dry  up  entirely.  The  principal  rivers  emptying  into  the  sea 
are  the  following :  the  Una,  whose  mouth  is  a  few  leagues 
north  of  the  boundary  line  of  Alagoas  ;  between  this  river 
and  Pernambuco  are  the  Serenhaem,  Ipojuca,  and  Pira- 
pama.  The  Capibaribe  empties  at  Pernambuco.  The  Una, 
Ipojuca,  and  Capibaribe  are  quite  respectable  rivers,  if  we 
consider  their  length,  the  Ipojuca  having  a  course  of  about 
one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  ;  but  during  the  dry  season 
they  disappear,  except  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  sea,f 
so  that  they  are  consequently  of  little  or  no  service  for  navi 
gation.  The  climate,  of  course,  varies  in  different  parts  of 
the  country.  Along  the  coast  it  is  damp  and  hot,  though 

*  "Da  Villa  do  Peneclo  athc  a  da  Barra  do  Rio-Grande,  em  cujo  inter- 
vallo  os  viandantcs  contain  acima  de  duzentas  Icguas,  nao  sahc  para  o  rio  de 
S.  Francisco  um  so  regato  no  tempo  da  secca."  Corografia  Brazilica,  Vol.  II. 
p.  158. 

t  Dr.  McGrath  of  Pernambuco  kindly  sent  me  a  tracing  of  a  map  of  the 
eastern  part  of  the  province.  In  a  note  he  says  :  "  These  rivers  look  very  for 
midable  on  paper,  but,  as  you  are  probably  well  aware,  they  amount  to  almost 
nothing  above  tide-water  during  the  dry  season." 


PROVINCE   OF   PERNAMBUCO.  431 

refreshed  by  sea  breezes  (Pompe'o).  In  the  interior  it  is 
very  hot  and  very  dry,  especially  during  the  rainy  season, 
which  lasts  from  March  to  June.  Von  Tschudi  says  that 
it  is  not  so  oppressingly  hot  at  Pernambuco  as  at  Rio.  The 
population  of  the  province  is  principally  confined  to  the 
eastern  part  near  the  coast,  and  to  the  border  of  the  Sao 
Francisco.  In  the  region  of  the  mattas  there  are  numerous 
and  well-conducted  sugar  estates,  which  produce  a  large 
quantity  of  sugar,  molasses,  and  rum.  Pompe'o  says,  that  in 
1857  the  president  of  the  province  reported  1,106  sugar- 
mills,  18  of  which  were  operated  by  steam  and  346  by  water. 
These  produced,  in  1856,  18,498:000^000  worth  of  sugar, 
and  the  same  year  1,341,354  canadas  of  aguardente  (native 
rum)  were  exported,  worth  616:000$000.  Pompe'o,  writ 
ing  in  1864,  places  the  exportation  of  sugar  at  over  four 
millions  of  arrobas.  Von  Tschudi,  in  1866,  estimated  the 
yearly  export  at  over  one  hundred  and  forty  millions  of 
pounds.  The  cotton  of  Pernambuco  is  reckoned  very  good, 
and,  according  to  Von  Tschudi,  it  brings  the  price  of  good 
Louisiana  cotton.  The  region  of  the  Garanhuns,  lying  just 
north  of  the  middle  of  the  province  of  AlagQas,  is  noted  for 
its  cotton.  Cazal  *  says  that  the  Serra  de  Garanhuns  is 
covered  by  woods,  and  that  streams  descend  from  it,  but 
are  soaked  up  and  disappear  on  reaching  the  sandy  campos 
of  the  vicinity.  This  region  produces  also  maize,  mandi- 
oca,  feijao,  and  fruits  of  various  kinds. 

Among  the  fruits  for  which  this  province  is  famous  are 
the  mango  and  the  delicious  giant  pine-apple  known  as  the 
Abacaxi.  Cocoa  palms  are  planted  in  large  groves  on  the 
coast,  and  produce  a  very  considerable  revenue.  In  the 
Sertao  a  large  number  of  cattle  are  raised.  Pompe'o  esti- 

*  Corografa  Brazi/ica,  Vol.  II.  p.  159. 


432  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

mated  that  in  1864  there  ought  to  be  1,300,000  inhabitants; 
but  there  has  been  no  census  for  many  years.  Almeida,  in 
his  Atlas,  estimates  the  population  of  the  province  at 
1^220,000  souls,  of  which  the  capital  has  90,000. 

Owing  to  the  flatness  of  the  coast  and  the  small  size  of 
the  rivers,  there  are  but  few  ports  capable  of  admitting 
large  vessels.  We  find  in  use  on  this  coast,  principally  for 
the  purpose  of  fishing,  the  Jangada,  a  narrow  raft  of  light 
logs,  carrying  a  large  triangular  sail,  —  a  craft  which  may 
be  launched  through  the  surf  on  the  open  coast.  Of  these, 
in  1864,  the  province  possessed  between  seven  and  eight 
hundred.  The  city  of  Pernambuco,*  or  Recife,!  owes  its 
importance  to  its  consolidated  beach  or  stone  reef.  Except 
for  this,  it  would  offer  no  advantages  for  trade.  Its  posi 
tion,  in  the  very  easternmost  part  of  the  empire,  makes  the 
port  exceedingly  convenient  of  access  ;  and  ships  from 

*  The  name  Pernambuco  is  derived  from  the  Tupi.  Schalzo  says  that  it 
means  mare  sbucato.  Cazal  (Coro.  Draz.  II.  170)  makes  it  a  corruption  of 
Paranabuca,  which  is  said  to  be  the  name  given  to  the  port  by  the  Cahctes 
who  inhabited  the  place.  The  Roteiro  Geral,  cap.  16  (quoted  in  the  Art  de 
Verifier  les  Dates,  Vol.  XIII.  p.  256),  says  that  the  name  was  given  because 
the  reef  was  broken  through  by  the  sea :  "  Se  diz  de  Pcrnambuco,  por  sua 
pedra  junto  delle  esta  furada  do  mar,  e  quer  dizcr,  Mar  furada."  D'Orbigny 
(L'ffomme  Amcricam,  Tom.  II.  p.  280)  makes  it  a  corruption  of  Paranarnbu. 
The  French  call  the  place  Fernambouc  or  Pernambouc,  and  the  English  used 
to  call  it  Fcrnambuco. 

t  The  name  Recife  was  given  to  the  city  because  of  its  reef.  The  Portu 
guese  for  reef  is  recife,  which  word  is  not  derived  from  the  Latin  recipere,  as  so 
many  authors  would  have  it ;  as,  for  instance,  Barlaeus  (Rerum  per  Octen- 
nium,  &c.,  p.  66),  who  says  :  "Ubi  terminatur,  pagus  fuit,  Reciffa  dicta,  forte 
ab  hoc,  quod  intra  hunc  et  alium  terra;  similem  tractum  oblongum  qnem  Recif- 
fam  Lapidosam  vocant  recepi  naves  possint  et  soleant,  accipiendis  exponen- 
disque  oneribus."  The  authors  of  the  Art  de  Verifier  les  Dates  (Vol.  XIII. 
p.  33)  make  the  same  mistake.  The  word  recife  is,  according  to  Fonseca, 
derived  from  the  Arabic  racif  or  razif,  signifying  a  pavement.  See  note  on  p. 
190. 


PROVINCE   OF   PERNAMBUCO.  433 

North  America  or  Europe,  bound  for  South  American,  East 
Indian,  or  African  ports,  have  to  go  but  very  little  out  of 
their  way  to  stop  there. 

I  have  already  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  city  is 
situated  on  a  tract  of  low  ground,  occupying  a  deep  inden 
tation  in  the  coast  tertiary  sheet,  and  extending  from  Olinda 
nearly  to  Cape  St.  Augustinho.*  It  is  built  at  the  mouths 
of  the  rivers  Beberibe  and  Capibaribe,  which  unite,  forming 
a  sort  of  delta,  composed  of  a  number  of  irregular  islands 
very  difficult  to  describe,  which  are  enclosed  by  a  net-work 
of  channels.  All  of  these  islands  are  low,  and  some  are 
marshy.  The  Beberibe  is  the  northernmost  of  the  two 
rivers.  It  takes  its  rise  to  the  northwest  of  Pernambuco  ; 
at  Olinda,  about  two  miles  north  of  Pernambuco,  it  meets  a 
very  narrow  strip  of  sea  beach,  which  extends  southward  to 
Pernambuco,  a  part  of  the  city  being  built  on  the  end  of 
the  spit,  which  broadens  in  the  manner  represented  in  the 
sketch-map  on  the  following  page.  A  channel  from  the  Rio 
Capibaribe  joins  the  Beberibe  just  above  its  mouth,  and  this 
cuts  off  from  the  mainland  a  large  island,  on  which  a  second 
division  of  the  city  is  built,  while  the  third  quarter  is  situ 
ated  on  the  mainland,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  Capibaribe, 
opposite  its  mouth.  These  three  quarters  are  united  by 
bridges,  several  of  which  are  of  excellent  construction. 

To  the  southward  a  bay  penetrates  deeply  into  the  land, 
but  its  waters  are  very  shallow. 

That  part  of  the  city  built  on  the  extremity  of  the  sand 
beach  above  described  is  called  Recife,  though  foreigners 
almost  invariably  use  the  name  Pernambuco.  It  is  very 
closely  built  up  with  warehouses,  stores,  custom-house  build 
ings,  &c.,  and  is  the  centre  of  the  commerce.  On  the  beach 

*  Kiddcr  compares  this  tract  to  the  Bahian  "Reconcavo." 

VOL.    I.  19  BB 


434 


GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 


PEHKAMBTTCO. 


just  to  the  north  are  the  celebrated  old  fortresses  of  Brum 
and  Buraco. 

Opposite  the  former,  and  distant  about  250  bracas  from 
the  shore,  the  stone  reef*  begins  abruptly,  and  runs  in  al- 

*  The  reef  has  been  described  over  and  over  again  by  the  old  navigators 
and  travellers  in  Brazil.  A  very  curious  drawing  of  it  is  to  be  found  in  a  Dutch 
work  published  in  1624,  and  entitled  Reys-boeck  van  het  rycke  Brasilien.  I  do 
not  know  the  author's  name.  The  sketch  is,  however,  so  inaccurate  as  to  be  of 
no  value  as  showing  the  structure  of  the  reef.  Barlams  not  only  speaks  of  the 
reef,  but  he  gives  a  large  copper-plate  engraving  of  it,  together  with  an  excel 
lent  map.  There  is  another  large  and  curious  copper-plate  of  Pernambuco  and 
the  reef  in  the  "  Historia  delle  Gverre  del  regna  del  Brasile,  dal  P.  F.  Gio. 
Gioseppe  di  Teresa  Carmelitano  Schalzo,"  published  1 698.  Speaking  of  the  reef, 
Schalzo  says  :  "  Vien  reparato  da  vn  come  marauigloso  molo  iui  formato  dalla 
natura  il  quale  s'inalza  sopra  1'acque,  distendendosi  gran  quantita  di  leghe  tagli- 
ato  dall'istessa  natura  con  tanta  egualta,  come  si  veggono  i  moli  con  immensi 
dispendij  fatti  daH'arte."  Dapper  also  figures  it  in  his  America. 

This  reef  is  represented  in  Kidder's  "Brazil,"  and  in  Kidder  and  Fletcher's 
"Brazil  and  the  Brazilians,"  as  if  it  were  two  or  three  miles  distant  from  the 
city !  A  comparison  between  the  views  of  Pernambuco  in  these  works  with  a 
good  map  will  prove  amusing  !  What  is  the  use  of  stating  a  thing  in  words, 
and  then  giving  the  lie  to  it  in  an  illustration  ? 


PROVINCE   OF   PERNAMBUCO.  435 

most  a  straight  line  southward,  passing  within  a  few  hundred 
feet  of  the  city,  extending  across  the  bay,  and  then  skirting 
the  shore  for  some  distance  south.  I  have  been  able  to  ex 
amine  it  only  in  the  vicinity  of  the  city,  and,  since  the  maps 
and  charts  differ  so  widely  among  themselves,  I  can  form  no 
definite  idea  of  its  real  length.  Barkeus  gives  a  map  and 
drawing  of  a  similar  reef  extending  across  the  mouth  of  a 
bay  to  the  south  of  Pernambuco,  near  Cape  Saint  Augustine, 
if  I  remember  rightly. 

I  have  already  described  with  much  detail  the  stone  reefs 
or  consolidated  beaches  of  Porto  Seguro,  Santa  Cruz,  and 
Bahia.  The  Pernambucan  reef,  so  far  as  I  have  seen,  has 
precisely  the  same  structure.  It  is  the  consolidated  core 
of  an  ancient  beach  which  has  been  separated  from  the 
mainland  by  the  encroachment  of  tbe  sea.  It  is  remark 
able  for  its  great  length  and  the  straightness  of  its  course. 
It  is  exposed  to  a  much  heavier  surf  than  the  Porto  Seguro 
and  Santa  Cruz  reefs,  and  at  high  tide  and  during  heavy 
weather  it  is  usually  deluged  by  the  waves.  The  northern 
end  breaks  down  abruptly  as  at  Porto  Seguro,  and  forms  a 
wide  opening  for  the  entrance  of  shipping.  Near  this  ex 
tremity  stands  the  ancient  Dutch  fort,  known  as  the  Picao, 
together  with  a  lighthouse.  A  part  of  the  reef  is  artifi 
cially  built  up  with  masonry,  to  make  it  a  more  efficient 
breakwater.  Ships  of  ordinary  draught  and  small  steamers 
enter  the  port,  but  the  larger  men-of-war  and  the  ocean 
steamers  usually  anchor  at  a  distance  off  the  reef. 

The  water  along  this  coast  is  very  shallow,  and  the  sound 
ings  continue  for  many  miles  out  from  the  shore.  The  tides 
rise  at  Pernambuco  about  six  feet. 

Pernambuco  is  one  of  the  calling  stations  of  the  United 
States,  English,  and  French  mail  steamers,  and  it  is  the 


436  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

head-quarters  of  a  steamboat  company  whose  boats  run  to 
various  points  on  the  coast  to  the  north  and  south. 

The  Pernambuco  and  Sao  Francisco  Railroad  is  in  about 
the  same  condition  as  the  Bahia  and  Sao  Francisco  line. 
It  extends  southwestward  from  the  city  through  the  fertile 
sugar  lands,  but  it  is,  I  believe,  completed  for  a  distance  of 
only  about  eighty  or  ninety  miles,  the  present  terminus  being 
Una  on  the  river  of  the  same  name.  I  owe  to  the  kindness 
of  Dr.  McGrath  of  Pernambuco,  and  Mr.  Mann,  the  super 
intendent  of  the  road,  the  following  table  of  heights,  along 
the  line  :  — 

Distances  in  Kilometres.  Feet  above  the  Sea. 

Marca  9  no  Arsenal  de  Marinha  .  .  .10.00 
Turntable  de  C.  Pontas  ....  17.96 

2/j  Ponte  de  Afogados 27.16 

8/0  Estaqao  de  Boa  Viagem       .         .         .         .         35.11 

Ponte  de  Jaboatao .         .....     26.25 

Ponte  de  Pirapama     .         .         .         .         .         29.12 

31^  Villa  do  Cabo 56.00 

Centre  do  tunnel 184.00 

Ponte  de  Utinga 210.00 

45       Esta9ao  de  Olinda 340.00 

Pedreiras  de  Timbo-assu  .  .  .  .373.00 
Estate  de  Escada 314.50 

70  "         "  Frexeiras 404.00 

Contendas 413.00 

Ponte  de  Amaragi  .....  296  18 

Plana 387.30 

113T%  Esta9ao  d'Agoa  Preta 463.00 

Ponte  de  Formigueiro  ....  418.96 
Excava^ao  no  Sitio  Gomes  ....  505.96 
Esta^ao  Una 437.96 

About  thirty  miles  north  of  Pernambuco  is  the  large  and 


PROVINCE   OF   PERNAMBUCO.  437 

fertile  island  of  Itamaracii,  which  is  separated  from  the 
mainland  by  a  narrow  but  deep  channel  like  a  river,  the 
island  being  set  into  the  mainland,  and  not  lying  off  the 
coast  as  it  is  usually  represented  on  maps.  It  is  about  ten 
or  twelve  miles  long  from  north  to  south,  and  very  narrow. 
The  land  is  low,  and  it  is  interesting  geologically  on  account 
of  its  limestones,  which  contain  fossils,  and  apparently  be 
long  to  the  cretaceous,  if  one  may  judge  from  a  report  made 
to  the  Brazilian  government  by  the  engineer  Paulo  Jose  de 
Oliveira,  who  was  sent  to  examine  the  island  for  coal,  which 
had  been  reported  to  exist  there.  Oliveira  speaks  of  a  bed 
of  chalky  limestone,  "  containing  some  fossils  of  the  turilite 
and  carditas  family,"  and  also  of  other  fossils  of  the  "  anan- 
chites  family,"  found  at  Porco  das  Caixas. 

Dr.  McGrath  of  Pernambuco  has  kindly  undertaken  to 
have  a  collection  made  from  these  limestones,  and  I  hope 
that  we  may  soon  have  their  age  satisfactorily  determined. 
Lime  is  manufactured  on  Itamaraca  from  these  rocks,  and 
also  from  corals  which  abound  in  the  vicinity.*  Oliveira 
reports  the  existence  of  iron  ore  on  the  island.  A  small 
quantity  of  salt  is  made  on  the  coast  from  sea-water.  The 
island  is  very  fertile,  and  is  covered  with  sugar  plantations 
and  cocoa-palm  groves.  The  eastern  side  is  thickly  planted 
from  one  end  to  the  other  with  these  beautiful  and  useful 
trees. 

Fernando  de  Noronha  belongs  to  the  province  of  Pernam 
buco,  though  it  is  situated  to  the  north  of  Cape  Sao  Roque. 
It  lies  in  lat.  3°  55'  S.  and  long.  32°  40'  W.  of  Greenwich 
and  is  distant  from  the  coast  about  two  hundred  miles.  It 
consists  of  one  large  island  and  several  smaller  ones,  the 
whole  being,  according  to  Darwin,  nine  miles  long  and  three 

*  See  Kidder's  Brazil,  Vol.  II.  p.  172. 


438  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

in  breadth.  This  distinguished  observer  visited  it,  and  I 
cannot  do  better  than  to  quote  his  own  description  of  the 
geological  structure  of  the  island  :  — 


ISLAND   OF   FKKNA2JDO  Dli  NOEOKHA.* 

"  The  whole  seems  to  be  of  volcanic  origin,  although  there  is  no 
appearance  of  any  crater  or  of  any  one  central  eminence.  The  most 
remarkable  feature  is  a  hill  one  thousand  feet  high,  of  which  the 
upper  four  hundred  feet  consist  of  a  precipitous,  singularly  shaped 
pinnacle  formed  of  columnar  phonolite,  containing  numerous  crys 
tals  of  glassy  feldspar  and  a  few  needles  of  hornblende.  From 
the  highest  accessible  point  of  this  hill  I  could  distinguish  in 
different  parts  of  the  group  several  other  conical  hills,  apparently 
of  the  same  nature.  At  St.  Helena  there  are  similar  great  conical 
protuberant  masses  of  phonolite  nearly  one  thousand  feet  in  height, 
which  have  been  formed  by  the  injection  of  fluid  feldspathic  lava 
into  yielding  strata.  If  this  hill  has  had,  as  is  probable,  a  similar 
origin,  denudation  has  been  here  effected  on  an  enormous  scale. 
Near  the  base  of  this  hill  I  observed  beds  of  white  tuff,  intersected 
by  numerous  dikes,  some  of  them  amygdaloidal  basalt  and  others 
of  trachyte  ;  and  beds  of  slaty  phonolite,  with  the  planes  of  cleavage 
directed  northwest  and  southeast.  Part  of  this  rock,  where  the 
crystals  were  scanty,  closely  resembled  common  clay  slates  altered 
by  the  contact  of  a  trap  dike.  The  laminae  of  rocks,  which  un 
doubtedly  have  once  been  fluid,  seems  to  me  to  be  a  subject  well 
deserving  of  attention.  On  the  beach  there  were  numerous  frag 
ments  of  compact  basalt,  of  which  rock  a  distant  facade  of  columns 
seems  to  be  formed."  t 

*  This  sketch  I  copy  from  Ulloa.    The  water-line  has  been  inadvertently 
omitted. 

t  Geological  Observations,  Part  II.  pp.  23,  24. 


PROVINCE   OF   PERNAMBUCO.  439 

The  island  is  almost  deprived  of  vegetation,  resulting 
from  the  dryness  of  the  climate,  and  Ulloa*  tells  us  that 
sometimes  two  or  three  years  pass  without  rain.  On  this 
barren  rock  the  Brazilian  government  has  established  a 
penal  station.  Flocks  of  sea-birds  resort  to  the  island  to 
breed,  and  sea-turtles  in  great  numbers  lay  in  the  sands  of 
the  shore  during  certain  months.  The  harbor  is  an  open 
roadstead.  If  the  reports  of  navigators  are  correct  the 
island  is  surrounded  by  coral  reefs. 

*  "La  csterilidad  de  esta  Isla  no  precede  de  la  mala  calidad  de  su  Tierra, 
pues  produce  todo  quanto  se  siembra  en  ella  proprio  de  Paises  calidos,  sino  de 
la  fulta  de  humedad ;  porque  passan  dos,  y  tres  afios  sin  Hover,  ni  verse  el  mas 
leve  aparato  de  Agua ;  y  su  escase'z  es  causa  de  que  se  sequen  totalmente  todas 
las  plantas,  faltando  la  Agua  a  los  Arroyos,  y  lo  mas  pingue  de  toda  la  Isla 
quando  las  Nubes  no  la  fecundizan  con  su  riego,  se  vuelve  tan  arido,  y  desapaci- 
ble,  como  los  Penones,  y  Rocas ;  en  la  casion,  que  llegamos,  se  havian  passado 
dos  anos  sin  caer  Agua  alguna."  —  ULLOA,  Relacion  Historica  del  Viaye,  &c., 
Parte  II.,  Tomo  Quarto,  p.  416. 


440  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 


CHAPTER   XI. 

THE  PROVINCE   OF   PARAHYBA   DO  NORTE. 

Limits  of  the  Province.  —  The  Serra  or  Plateau  of  the  Cairiris  Velhos.  —  The 
Climate,  Productions,  &c.,  of  the  Province.  — Fertile  Lands  found  only  along 
the  Coast.  —  The  Rio  Parahyba  do  Norte,  its  Navigability.  —  The  City  of 
Parahyba.  —  The  Consolidated  Beach  at  the  Mouth  of  the  River.  —  The  River 
and  Town  of  Mamanguape.  —  The  Geology  of  the  Vicinity  of  Parahyba. 
—  Cretaceous  Limestone  with  Fossils.  —  Observations  of  Professor  Agassiz 
and  Mr.  Williams.  —  Mr.  Williams's  Observations  on  the  Geology  of  the 
Country  between  Parahyba  and  the  Gold-Mines  of  Pianco.  —  Mode  of 
Occurrence  of  the  Gold.  —  "  The  Tasso  Brazilian  Gold-Mining  Company 
(Limited)." 

THE  Province  of  Parahyba  do  Norte  lies  to  the  north  of 
that  of  Pernambuco,  from  which  it  is  separated  by  the  Serra 
dos  Cairiris  Velhos,  which  seems  to  be  the  continuation  east 
ward  of  the  Serra  Araripe.  As  laid  down  on  the  maps,  the 
serra  is  noteworthy  for  its  west-east  trend,  though  it  pre 
sents  a  gentle  curve  to  the  southward.  This  is  in  direct 
contrast  with  that  of  the  other  serras  on  the  coast,  which 
usually  have  a  more  or  less  northeast  direction. 

The  principal  mountain  ranges  crossing  the  province,  as 
the  Borborema  and  Teixcira,  have  a  direction  considerably 
to  the  east  of  north.  These  are  composed  of  gneiss.  This 
abnormal  trend  attributed  to  the  Cairiris  Velhos  would  be 
sufficient  to  lead  one  to  suspect  that  the  so-called  serra  be 
longed  to  the  same  class  as  the  Araripe  and  the  "  serras  " 
dividing  the  Sao  Francisco  and  Tocantins  basins,  and  the 
suspicion  is  confirmed  by  Pompe'o,  who  says  that  the  Serra 


PROVINCE   OF   PARAHYBA   DO   NORTE.  441 

Borborema  forms  in  the  south  an  extensive  plateau.  So  that 
it  is  more  than  probable  that  the  Cairiris  Velhos  are  very 
erroneously  laid  down  on  the  maps,  and  do  not  form  a  nar 
row  mountain  chain,  as  represented. 

The  province  forms  a  regular  oblong  about  one  hundred 
and  eighteen  *  miles  in  length  from  east  to  west,  and  about 
ninety  miles  from  north  to  south.  The  interior,  as  in  Per- 
nambuco,  is  uneven,  and  there  are  some  considerable  serras. 
The  climate  is  very  dry.  The  country  is  very  poorly  watered, 
and  is  consequently  covered  with  a  very  scanty  vegetation,  so 
that  it  is  fit  only  for  pasturage.  Pompeo  says  that  the  cattle 
subsist  largely  on  the  macambira,  a  bromeliaceous  plant, 
which  not  only  furnishes  food,  but  is  sufficiently  juicy  to 
quench  their  thirst.  The  coast  is  low,  and  much  of  it  is 
very  sandy. f  As  in  Pernambuco,  there  are  some  fertile 
lands  along  the  coast  admitting  of  cultivation,  and  they 
are  in  part  covered  by  forest.  These  lands  produce  cotton, 
sugar,  ^  tobacco,  &c. 

The  climate  of  this  province  is  hot,  but  on  the  coast  the 
heat  is  modified  by  the  breezes  from  the  sea.  It  is  very  dry, 
and  from  time  to  time  severe  droughts  prevail,  causing  much 
distress.  The  province  is  reputed  healthy  for  Brazilians. 

The  principal  river  of  the  province  is  the  Parahyba  do 
Norte,  which  takes  its  rise  in  the  Serra  de  Borborema,  near 
the  southern  border  of  the  province,  and,  skirting  the  prov 
ince  line,  flows  east  a  few  degrees  north  to  the  sea. 

At  its  mouth  the  Parahyba  forms  a  sort  of  estuary,  which 

*  Pompeo  says  one  hundred  and  ten  leagues,  which  is  very  far  from  being 
correct. 

t  See  Ivoster's  Travels. 

|  Pompeo  says  that  in  1864  there  were  one  hundred  and  sixty  sugar  factories 
in  the  province. 

19* 


442  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

is  quite  wide,  and  opens  into  the  sea  from  the  south,  as  do 
many  of  the  other  rivers  along  this  part  of  the  coast. 

The  Parahyba  is  navigable  for  large  vessels  up  to  the  city 
of  the  same  name,  the  capital  of  the  province,  a  distance  of 
three  leagues  above  the  mouth  (Pompeo).*  Small  vessels 
ascend  about  the  same  distance  above  the  city,  and  canoes 
are  said  to  go  as  far  as  Filar,  many  leagues  farther,  but  the 
influence  of  the  tide,  according  to  Pompe'o,  is  felt  only  six 
leagues  above  the  river  mouth. 

The  city  of  Parahyba  is  situated  on  the  right  bank  of  the 
river,  and  is  divided  into  an  upper  and  lower  town.  It 
numbers,  according  to  Almeida,  14,000  inhabitants.!  Its 
exports  are  principally  cotton  and  sugar,  which  are  sent  to 
Pernambuco.  Pompe'o  says  that  during  the  year  1862  -  63 
there  were  exported  201,890  arrobas  of  cotton,  worth 
3,021:124$800,  and  620,270  of  cotton,  worth  821:120-3000. 

Barlaeus  J  gives  a  chart  of  the  mouth  of  the  Parahyba 
River,  of  which  I  give  on  the  opposite  page  a  reduced  copy. 
It  is  interesting  because  it  shows  a  stone  reef  extending 
across  its  mouth,  leaving  an  entrance  between  it  and  the 
point  on  the  southern  side  of  the  river.  The  reef  begins  off 
the  point  on  which  stands  the  old  fort  Cabedello,  and  runs 
parallel  with  the  shore  in  a  southwest  direction  for  some 
distance.  At  its  southern  extremity  it  is,  according  to 
Barla3us's  chart,  triple,  two  short  reefs  lying  inside  of  it. 

I  introduce,  for  comparison  with  Barla3us,  a  copy  of  part  of 
a  map  of  the  mouth  of  the  same  river  by  Almeida,  which 
ought  to  be  more  accurate,  though  it  does  not  represent  the 
reef  with  so  much  care. 

*  Judging  from  Mrs.  Agassiz's  description  of  the  Professor's  visit  to  Parahyba, 
the  steamer  was  unable  to  go  up  as  far  as  the  town. 

t  The  population  of  the  province  is  about  300,000  (Almeida), 
t  Rerum  per  Octennium  in  Brasilia,  &c.,  1647. 


PROVINCE   OF   PARAHYBA  DO  NORTE. 


443 


About  eighteen  miles  north  of  the  mouth  of  the  Parahyba 
is  the  mouth  of  the  Mamanguape,  a  much  smaller  stream 
than  the  Parahyba.  It  is  said  to  admit  of  navigation  for 
smacks  as  far  as  the  important  town  of  Mamanguape,  which 
lies  about  four  leagues  from  the  sea.  According  to  the 
Dictionary)  Geographico  there  is  a  stone  reef  at  the  mouth 
of  the  river,  and  Almeida  represents  a  line  of  reefs  as  run 
ning  along  part  of  the  coast.  Cotton  is  one  of  the  chief 
exports  of  the  district  of  Mamanguape. 

Of  the  geology  of  the  province  of  Parahyba  we  know  very 
little,  except  what  is  to  be  found  in  a  short  paper  by  Mr.  E. 
Williamson,*  from  which  I  condense  the  following :  — 

"  From  Tambalic  (Tambahu  1)  to  Parahyba  the  surface  is 
covered  by  thick  beds  of  ferruginous  conglomerate In  some 

*  On  the  Geology  of  the  Parahyba  and  Pernambnco  Gold  Kegions,  by  E. 
Williamson,  Proceedings  of  Manchester  Geological  Society.  This  pamph 
let,  which  I  owe  to  the  kindness  of  Professor  Bonamy  Price,  of  Oxford,  bears 
no  date. 


444 


GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 


-orrHE 

Rio  PARAHYBA  DO 


* 


tf 


tf 


places  the  conglomerate  becomes  so  very  coarse  that  it  is  wholly 
made  up  of  water-worn  pebbles,  of  qxiartz,  gneiss,  and  the  harder 
schistose  rocks,  cemented  together  by  peroxide  of  iron.  The  size 
of  the  pebbles  varies  from  that  of  a  small  nut  to  boulders  weighing 
four  or  five  pounds.  This  class  is  well  represented  below  the 
baths  at  Tambalic ;  but  as  they  approach  the  river  towards 
Parahyba  they  gradually  become  mixed  with  finer  and  more  argil- 


PROVINCE      OF  PARAHYBA  DO  NORTE.  445 

laceous  beds,  until,  at  last,  at  Sta.  Rita,  a  few  miles  out  from 
Farahyba,  they  have  become  divided  into  regular  bands  of  marls, 
sands,  and  conglomerates."  These  deposits  are  probably  tertiary. 
"  Immediately  underlying  the  ferruginous  conglomerates  of  Para- 
hyba  there  occur  beds  of  secondary  limestone,  having  a  strike 
nearly  north  and  south,  and  dipping  gently  to  the  east.  For  the 
most  part  these  limestones  are  siliceous,  though  at  intervals  beds 
of  nearly  pure  limestone  and  argillaceous  bands  occur." 

Mr.  "Williamson  states  that  he  found  a  cast  of  a  fish  tooth 
and  some  estherians  in  this  limestone,  and  that  similar  beds 
abounding  in  fish  remains  occur  at  Minas  da  Cachoeira. 
Professor  Agassiz  touched  at  Parahyba  on  his  return  from 
the  Amazonas  and  visited  exposures  of  these  rocks  in  the 
vicinity.  He  found  the  limestone  of  a  soft  texture,  of  a 
white  or  gray  color,  and  destitute  of  recognizable  fossils. 
From  the  green  shales  he  obtained  species  of  estherians 
which  appear  to  be  identical  with  some  occurring  in  the 
Bahian  beds.  This  latter  observation  is  of  much  interest, 
since  it  would  appear  to  indicate  the  existence,  on  this  part 
of  the  coast,  of  fresh-water  deposits  like  those  at  Bahia. 

Mr.  Williamson's  description  of  the  gneissoid  rocks  and 
of  the  gold  deposits  I  give  in  full,  as  it  is  the  only  clear 
account  of  the  way  in  which  gold  occurs  in  this  kind  of  rocks 
in  Brazil :  — 

"  The  first  clear  outcrop  of  the  rocks,  from  Parahyba,  occurs  at 
Batalha  on  the  river  Parahyba  ;  it  is  a  hornblendic  rock,  with 
numerous  small  bands  of  quartz  and  feldspar  much  contorted. 

"  Between  the  river  Parahyba  and  Pilar  a  very  coarse  gneiss 
occurs,  with  large  crystals  of  white  feldspar  and  black  mica ;  at 
Pilar  the  gneiss  is  interstratified  with  mica  schists,  generally  fine 
in  texture ;  at  Mendonga,  Mocheira,  and  Inga  Velho  beds  of  similar 
character  again  occur,  interstratified  with  gneiss ;  at  the  last-named 


446  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

place  the  schistose  beds  become  more  frequent,  until  at  Inga  the 
whole  of  the  beds  are  micaceous  and  hornblendic  schists.  A  little 
past  Inga  a  hard  close-grained  gneiss  rock  appears  ;  this  flanks  the 
mountains  of  Lagradoura,  which  chiefly  consist  of  a  white  por- 
phyroid  gneiss,  holding  large  cleavable  crystals  of  pure  orthoclase, 
interstratified  with  bands  of  syenitic  and  granitoid  gneiss,  much 
resembling  granite.  On  the  northern  flank  the  hard  close-grained 
gneiss  rocks  again  occur. 

"  Between  Lagradoura  and  Campinas  a  well-marked  band  — 
granitoid  porphyry  —  occurs,  standing  out  some  fifty  and  one 
hundred  feet  higher  than  the  softer  rocks  which  surround  them ; 
this  porphyry  contains  large  crystals  of  white  orthoclase.  At 
Campinas  a  series  of  micaceous  beds  occur,  containing  plates  of 
mica.  The  largest  was  about  two  inches  in  diameter  ;  but  I  was 
told  that  plates  a  foot  square  had  been  found  ;  following  this  run 
of  micaceous  schist  is  a  band  of  porphyry,  in  which  large  cleavable 
crystals  of  white  orthoclase  are  embedded  in  a  granular  matrix  of 
quartz  and  feldspar.  I  could  distinguish  no  true  bedding  lines  in 
this  band,  but  from  its  dip  and  strike,  an  unbroken  outcrop,  I  am 
inclined  to  think  that  it  might  be  interbedcled  ;  the  succeeding 
rocks  are  mica-schists,  and  gneiss. 

"  At  Caximba  Nova  another  band  of  hard  granitoid  rock  occurs  ; 
following  this  there  are  a  long  series  of  mica  schists  and  gneiss  ; 
near  to  Caracol  occurs  a  series  of  black  schists,  alternating  with 
bands  of  granular  black  rock  ;  the  schists  are  occasionally  mica 
ceous.  At  Caracol  a  small  series  of  mica  schists  divide  two  broad 
bands  of  granitoid  rock,  in  places  these  much  resemble  the  true 
granites ;  overlying  the  upper  one  is  a  small  band  of  hornblendic 
schist,  this  is  followed  by  a  long  series  of  flaggy  mica  schists.  At 
Carnahuba  these  are  succeeded  by  bands  of  hard,  close-grained 
gneiss  ;  this  flanks  the  mountains  of  Teixeira  (rocks  similar  in 
character  occur  at  Queimada  on  the  opposite  flanks) ;  the  rocks  of 
the  Teixeira  mountains  bear  such  a  strong  resemblance  to  those  of 
Lagradoura,  that  I  think  they  may  be  but  a  repetition  of  the  same 


PROVINCE  OF  PAEAHYBA  DO  NORTE.         447 

beds.  Between  Queimada  and  the  Minas  da  Caxoeira,  another 
broad  series  of  the  same  class  occurs  ;  the  remainder  of  the  rocks 
on  the  section  are  gneiss,  alternating  with  bands  of  mica 
schists. 

"  At  various  places  on  the  section  beds  of  quartz  and  quartzite, 
with  plates  of  mica,  were  interstratified  with  the  harder  rocks ;  the 
beds  varied  from  a  few  feet  to  two  hundred  feet  in  thickness  ;  the 
smaller  bands  were  often  beautifully  opalescent,  the  larger  bands 
granular  or  amorphous.  Hsematitic  and  titanic  iron  ores  always 
accompany  them. 

"  On  my  journey  from  Parahyba  to  the  mines  I  failed  to  detect 
any  beds  of  limestone  interstratified  with  the  Laurentian  rocks,  but 
I  was  informed  that  limestone  interstratified  with  the  rocks  had 
been  observed  in  other  places  where  the  limestones  had  not  been 
hidden  by  the  covering  of  ferruginous  detritus. 

"  The  rocks  at  the  Minas  da  Caxoeira,  and  the  position  of  the 
gold-bearing  veins,  will  be  best  understood  on  reference  to  the 
accompanying  section,  taken  along  the  bed  of  the  Bruscus  River, 
for  a  length  of  about  six  miles.* 

"  At  the  southern  extremity,  divided  by  a  band  of  softer  rock, 
are  two  broad  and  well-marked  bands  of  syenitic  gneiss,  one  of 
which  forms  the  bed  of  the  beautiful  waterfalls  of  the  Bruscus ; 
underlying  these  is  a  series  of  schistose  gneiss,  and  a  narrow  band 
of  syenite  ;  it  is  a  bluish-gray  crystalline  rock,  and  bears  a  strong 
resemblance  to  some  of  the  Welsh  upper  Cambrian  feldspar  rocks. 
Succeeding  these  are  the  gold-bearing  series,  which  almost  wholly 
consist  of  fine-grained  micaceous  gneiss,  passing  imperceptibly 
into  mica  schists. 

"  Crossing  a  bend  of  the  river  a  little  before  reaching  the  Lima 
lode,  a  small  band  of  dark  brownish-gray  feldspar  rock  occurs ;  it 
is  subtranslucent,  and  in  places  shows  chatoyant  colors ;  a  little 
farther  on  is  a  band  of  white  crystalline  limestone,  containing 
hexagonal  crystals  of  biotite  ;  in  the  bed  of  the  river  it  is  small, 

*  This  section  is  omitted. 


448  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

but  about  a  mile  farther  east  from  this  point,  at  a  place  called 
Piao,  it  is  said  to  be  a  mile  broad  on  the  outcrop. 

"  A  little  east  from  where  the  Descubridora  lode  crosses  the 
stream  there  occur  a  few  beds  of  earthy  plumbaginous  schists,  in 
which  are  two  lenticular  veins  of  graphite  ;  they  seem  to  be  of 
small  extent  and  of  a  very  indifferent  quality. 

"  At  Cacimbinhas,  a  few  miles  farther  on  than  the  Boa  Espera^a 
lode,  another  broad  and  well-marked  band  of  syenitic  gneiss  occurs, 
quite  as  large  as  that  of  the  waterfalls. 

"  The  auriferous  veins  which  traverse  these  rocks  are  very  nu 
merous;  they  appear  as  irregular  lenticular  masses,  running  parallel 
to  the  strike,  often  dipping  between,  but  rarely  cutting  through, 
the  beds.  The  matrix  of  the  lodes  is  a  coarse  white  semi-opaque 
quartz,  containing  small  quantities  of  the  arsenides  and  sulphides 
of  iron,  sulphides  of  copper,  lead  and  zinc ;  most  of  the  galenas 
contain  antimony.  The  variety  of  minerals  resulting  from  the 
decomposition  of  these  ores  are  very  numerous,  —  carbonate  of 
zinc,  carbonate  and  chloro-phosphate  of  lead,  phosphate,  arseniate 
and  carbonate  of  copper,  oxides  of  antimony  and  native  sulphur 
are  common  in  some  of  the  lodes  ;  sulphate  of  copper,  sulphate 
and  chromate  of  lead  were  more  rare ;  native  gold  was  sparingly 
scattered  throughout  nearly  all  the  lodes,  and  in  the  Boa  Esperanga 
veins,  grains  of  platinum  were  found. 

"  The  run  of  rocks  in  the  valley  of  the  Bruscus  are  very  aurifer 
ous,  and  quartz  veins  abundant ;  and  though  the  rocks  are  greatly 
contorted,  no  trace  of  a  true  fault  can  be  found  anywhere  in  the 
whole  district ;  this  singularity  appears  to  belong  to  all  the  altered 
rocks  which  I  examined  in  Parahyba  and  Pernambuco,  for  during 
a  ride  of  1,000  miles  I  failed  to  detect  any  ;  it  is  to  this  want  of 
true  fractures  that  I  ascribe  the  poorness  of  the  quartz  veins,  there 
being  nothing  favorable  to  the  concentration  of  the  ores  ;  the  gold 
has  been  equally  distributed  throughout  all  the  veins.  It  is  well 
known  to  miners  that  no  veins  are  so  rich  as  those  in  which  the 
faces  of  dissimilar  rocks  are  brought  opposite  each  other  on  the 
walls  of  the  vein. 


PROVINCE   OF   PARAHYBA  DO  NOBTE.  449 

"  On  my  journey  from  the  mines  to  Pernambuco  I  crossed  the 
same  run  of  rocks  as  those  marked  on  the  section,  and  during  my 
ride  was  able  to  trace  several  anteclinals ;  this  accounts  for  the 
vast  extent  of  country  covered  by  rocks  of  the  same  age. 

"  About  seventy  leagues  from  Pernambuco  I  found  a  band  of 
quartziferous  porphyry  ;*  a  specimen  is  exhibited  ;  it  has  a  compact 
base,  composed  of  an  intimate  mixture  of  quartz  and  feldspar, 
enclosing  crystals  of  orthoclase  and  grains  of  quartz. 

"  Near  to  Jerimu  there  occur,  within  a  few  leagues  of  each  other, 
two  bands  of  crystalline  limestone ;  one  a  narrow  and  highly 
crystalline  band,  the  other  a  very  broad  band  :  in  some  parts  this 
is  micaceous,  but  none  of  the  beds  are  so  highly  crystalline  as  the 
small  band. 

"  The  country  between  Jerimu  and  Pernambuco  bears  a  strong 
resemblance  in  character  to  those  marked  on  the  section  between 
Parahyba  and  Campinas. 

"  The  whole  series  of  these  rocks  agree  in  every  respect  with  the 
characteristic  features  of  the  Canadian  Laurentian  rocks,  as  given 
by  Sir  W.  E.  Logan,  viz.  :  — 

"  I.  The  total  absence  of  anything  like  argillite  or  clay  slate. 

"  II.  That  nothing  corresponding  to  slaty  cleavage  has  ever  been 
remarked. 

"  III.  That  the  lamination  of  these  masses  is  apparently  in  every 
case  coincident  with,  and  dependent  upon,  the  original  stratification 
of  the  sedimentary  layers." 

There  was  formed  in  1865  an  English  company  under 
the  name  of  the  "  Tasso  Brazilian  Gold-Mining  Company 
(limited),'.'  to  work  the  mines,  not  only  of  Parahyba,  but  also 
of  Pernambuco.  Among  the  officers  of  this  company  ap 
pear  some  very  honorable  names.  I  am  entirely  uninformed 
as  to  what  this  association  has  done,  or  what  its  prospects 
are. 

Sr.  Jose  Jacomo  Tasso,  in  an  official  report  made  to  the 

cc 


450  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

government  not  long  since,  said  that  seven  distinct  aurifer 
ous  veins  had  been  discovered,  but  washing  was  carried  on 
with  great  difficulty,  because  water  was  scarce,  and  had  to 
be  brought  from  a  distance  of  some  two  or  three  miles. 


PROVINCE   OF   RIO   GRANDE   DO   NORTE.  451 


CHAPTER   XII. 

THE  PROVINCE  OF  RIO  GRANDE  DO  NORTE. 

Limits  of  the  Province,  its  Position,  Mountain  and  River  Systems,  &c.  —  The 
Rio  Piranhas.  —  Vegetation.  —  Productions.  —  The  Carnahuba  Palm  and  its 
Uses.  —  Cochineal.  —  Cattle.  —  Climate.  —  Natal.  —  Geology  of  the  Prov 
ince. 

THIS  province  occupies  the  extreme  northeastern  part  of 
Brazil,  and  forms  an  irregular  quadrilateral  about  one  hun 
dred  and  eighteen  miles  in  greatest  length  from  east  to 
west,  and  between  eighty  and  ninety  miles  in  width  from 
south  to  north.  From  Ceara  it  is  separated  by  the  so-called 
serra  or  plateau  of  Appodi.  Two  water-sheds  running 
north-south  divide  the  province  into  three  almost  equal 
parts.  The  eastern  of  these  water-sheds  is  formed  by  a 
continuation  of  the  Serra  Borborema  or  the  Cairiris  Novos, 
east  of  which  a  number  of  little  rivers  run  eastward  to  the 
sea ;  these  rivers  being  of  the  same  character  as  those 
of  Pernambuco  and  Bahia,  disappear  in  the  dry  season. 
Pompeo  says  that  the  Ceara-merim  and  Trahiry  are  per 
ennial.  None  of  these  rivers  are  navigable  for  more  than 
a  few  miles  above  their  mouths. 

The  Rio  Piranhas,  which  originates  in  the  province  of 
Parahyba,  passes  through  the  middle  third  of  the  province 
of  Rio  Grande  do  Norte  with  a  course  almost  due  north, 
emptying  into  the  sea  by  several  mouths,  forming  a  con 
siderable  delta.  This  river  is  sufficiently  large  to  allow 
small  vessels  to  ascend  about  seven  leagues  to  the  town  of 


452  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY, 

Assu,  an  important  place,  noted  for  its  cattle,  its  salines, 
and  commerce  in  salt.  The  Piranhas  takes  its  name  from 
the  fish  of  the  same  name,  which  abounds  in  its  waters. 

The  western  third  of  the  province  is  traversed  by  the  Rio 
Appodi,  of  which  the  Upanema  forms  a  branch.  These 
two  streams  take  their  source  in  the  serras  bounding  the 
province  on  the  south  and  flow  northward,  uniting  only 
a  few  miles  from  the  sea.  Cazal  says  that  the  lands  border 
ing  the  Appodi  are,  for  the  most  part,  plains  diversified  by 
numerous  lagoons  that  dry  up  in  the  rainless  years.  The 
river  is  navigable  for  canoes  only  as  far  as  Santa  Luzia, 
six  leagues  from  the  ocean. 

The  greater  part  of  the  province  is,  like  the  province  of 
Parahyba,  dry  and  largely  covered  by  low,  sparse  vegetation 
{Catingas  carrasquentas},  but  on  the  higher  lands,  where 
the  soil  is  good,  there  are  considerable  areas  covered  by 
forest  and  adapted  for  cultivation.  Forests  are  also  found 
in  the  eastern  part  on  the  low,  swampy  grounds,  and  along 
the  banks  of  some  rivers. 

Cotton  and  sugar-cane  are  the  principal  productions  of 
the  country,  and  are  cultivated  on  the  serras  and  river 
margins,  particularly  of  the  rivers  Ceara-merim,  Carimatau, 
Potengi,  Trahiry,  &c. 

Pompe'o  says  that  there  were,  in  1862,  one  hundred  and 
eighty-five  sugar  factories  in  the  province,  producing  375,000 
arrobas.  The  carnahuba  palm  (Copernicia  cerifera)  is  cul 
tivated  largely  on  the  low  grounds,  and  is  one  of  the  most 
important  vegetable  productions  of  the  country.  This  beau 
tiful  palm,  which  is  met  with  all  over  the  northeastern 
provinces  of  Brazil,  is  of  so  much  interest  that  I  will  give 
a  short  description  of  it  and  its  many  uses. 

It  grows  to  a  height  of  thirty  or  thirty-five  feet.     The 


PROVINCE  OF  RIO  GRANDE  DO  NORTE.        453 

leaf-stalks  remain  persistent  to  a  height  of  six  feet,  more  or 
less,  from  the  ground,  the  rest  of  the  stem  being  smooth. 
The  fronds  are  fan-shaped,  furnished  with  thorns,  and  dis 
posed  in  a  close  ball-like  head,  so  that  the  tree  presents  a 
very  different  appearance  from  that  of  any  other  species  of 
palm. 

The  uses  to  which  the  different  part  of  the  plant  can  be 
put  are  exceedingly  numerous. 

The  roots  are  used  as  sarsaparilla.  The  stem,  when  about 
six  feet  high,  is  furnished  with  a  pith  which,  treated  with 
water,  gives  a  sort  of  meal  used  for  food  in  famine  times. 
The  adult  stem  is  an  excellent  timber  employed  in  building. 
The  midribs  of  the  fronds  are  used  for  making  fences,  &c., 
the  leaves  for  thatching,  the  fibre  for  cordage.  The  fruit, 
properly  cooked,  tastes  like  boiled  Indian  corn,  and  is  used 
for  food.  The  gum  is  edible. 

Soon  after  the  young  leaves  have  opened,  they  are 
cut  and  dried  in  the  shade.  Scales  of  a  waxy  substance 
are  then  easily  dislodged  from  their  surface,  and  may  be 
melted  over  a  fire  into  cakes.  This  is  the  caniahuba 
wax.  The  same  substance  is  said  to  be  furnished  also 
by  the  berries.  It  is  very  brittle  and  brown  in  color,  but 
it  may  be  bleached.  Mixed  with  common  wax  or  tal 
low,  it  is  made  into  candles  of  a  fair  quality.  The  pro 
portion  is  usually  three  parts  carnahuba  to  one  part  wax, 
or  one  eighth  to  one  tenth  of  tallow.  (Burton.)  This 
palm  is  so  very  abundant  that  its  wax  is  likely  to  be 
come  a  very  important  article  of  export  from  the  northern 
provinces 

The  carnahuba  may  be  occasionally  seen  in  the  prov 
ince  of  Bahia.  Burton  met  with  it  in  the  valley  of  the 
Sao  Francisco,  just  above  the  Barra  do  Rio  Grande,  but  it 


454  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

is  most  abundant  growing  on  the  low  lands  bordering  the 
streams  in  the  provinces  of  Pernambuco,  Parahyba,  Ceara, 
and  Piauhy.  The  wax  is  collected  to  a  considerable  extent, 
and  one  may  buy  carnalmba  caudles  or  wax  all  along  the 
coast.* 

In  addition  to  sugar  and  cotton  and  the  carnahuba,  rice, 
inandioca,  beans,  tobacco,  &c.  are  cultivated.  A  species  of 
cochineal  insect  is  found  in  Brazil,  living  on  the  leaves  of 
cacti,  and  it  has  been  supposed  that  it  might  be  cultivated 
successfully  in  this  province,  and  made  an  article  of  com 
merce.  Pompeo  says  that  it  is  found  in  the  Sertao  of 
Serido,  but  he  does  not  say  whether  it  is  made  use  of  or 
not.f 

In  the  interior  large  herds  of  cattle  are  raised,  and  in 
1862  there  were  2,013  cattle  fazendas,  $  with  about  59,630 
head  of  cattle. 

The  climate  of  the  province  is  very  hot  and  dry,  and 
droughts  of  great  severity  sometimes  prevail. 

The  most  important  place  in  Rio  Grande  do  Norte  is 
Natal,  situated  at  the  mouth  of  the  Potengy.  It  is  a  small 
town,  but  of  some  little  importance.  The  entrance  to  the 
river  is  very  difficult,  owing  to  shoals  and  rocks.  On  the 
southern  side  is  a  stone  reef  represented  in  the  following 
sketch-map  from  Almeida. 

*  See  Von  Martius,  Palms,  p.  49 ;  Dr.  Manoel  Arruda  da  Camara  in 
Koster,  Travels  in  Brazil,  Vol.  II.  p.  311  ;  Brando,  An  Account  of  a 
Vegetable  Wax  from  Brazil,  Phil.  Trans.,  1811,  p.  261  ;  Boussingault, 
Ann.  de  Chimie,  Vol.  XXIX.  p.  330 ;  Sir  M.  A.  de  Machedo,  Notice  sur  le 
palmier  Carnauba,  Paris,  1867  ;  Agassiz,  Journey  in  Brazil,  p.  453. 

t  Spix  and  Martius  (Travels  in  Brazil,  Vol.  II.  p.  19)  speak  of  the  occur 
rence  of  the  cochineal  insect  in  the  province  of  Sao  Paulo. 

t  Accioli,  Corographia  do  Brazil,  p.  61,  says  that  cheese  and  butter  are 
manufactured  and  exported  to  a  considerable  extent. 


PROVINCE  OF  RIO  GRANDE  DO  NORTE. 


455 


The  coast  is  bordered  by  reefs,  but  they  have  never  been 
examined  by  a  competent  observer. 

So  far  as  the  geology  of  the  province  is  concerned,  the 
southern  part  appears  to  be  largely  composed  of  gneissose 
and  other  metamorphic  rocks,  which  form  in  the  interior  a 
high  and  more  or  less  mountainous  country  like  that  of  the 
provinces  immediately  south.  Bordering  this  is  a  consid 
erable  band  of  tertiary  rocks.  The  immediate  vicinity  of 
the  sea  is  flat,  sandy,  and  often,  as  in  the  vicinity  of  Natal, 
covered  by  dunes  of  blown  sand.  I  know  of  no  mines  or 
mineral  deposits  in  the  province,  though  gold  is  said  to 
occur  there.  In  the  Exposition  Universelle  of  1867,  a 
specimen  of  native  sulphur,  said  to  have  come  from  this 
province,  was  exhibited.  I  know  of  no  localities  in  Brazil 
which  afford  native  sulphur,  though  it  has  been  affirmed  to 
exist  on  the  Itatiaiossu.  One  of  the  principal  products  of 
the  province  is  sea-salt,  which  is  largely  manufactured  at 
the  Salinas  d'Assu  and  Mossor<5. 


456  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE  PROVINCE   OF   CEARA. 

Geographical  Position  and  Limits  of  the  Province.  —  The  Serra  da  Ybiapaba. 

—  Its  Topography  and  Geological  Structure. —  Serra  de  Araripe.  —  River 
Basins.  —  General  Sketch  of  the  Geology  of  the  Province.  —  Climate. — 
Character  of  the  Soil.  —  Productions.  —  City  of  Fortaleza.  —  Population  of 
the  Province.  —  Gardner's  Sketch  of  the  Geology  of  Ceara.  —  Character  of 
Country  in  the  Vicinity  of  Aracaty.  —  Description   of   Country  between 
Aracaty  and  Ico.  —  Serra  de  Pereira.  —  Villa  do  led  and  Vicinity.  —  Coun 
try  between  Ico  and  Crato.  —  Gold  Washings.  —  Crato.  —  Serra  de  Araripe 

—  Villa  da  Barra  do  Jardim.  —  Description  of  Fossil  Fish  Locality.  —  The 
Fishes  noticed  by  Spix  and  Martins  and  Others,  and  described  by  Professor 
Agassiz.  —  Glacial  Phenomena  of  Vicinity  of  Fortaleza  spoken  of  by  Pro 
fessor  Agassiz.  —  Mammalian  Remains.  —  Minerals.  —  Meteorolites. 

THE  province  of  Ceara  is  bounded  on  the  north  by  the 
Atlantic,  on  the  east  by  the  provinces  of  Rio  Grande  do 
Norte  and  Parahyba,  on  the  south  by  the  province  of  Per- 
nambuco,  and  on  the  west  by  Piauhy,  and,  according  to  Dr. 
Pompe'o,  has  an  area  of  4,681  square  miles.  Its  western 
boundary  line  is  formed  by  a  narrow  range  of  high  lands 
called  collectively  the  Serra  da  Ybiapaba.*  Pompe'o  says 
that  this  serra  begins  near  the  coast  not  far  from  the  eastern 
mouth  of  the  Parahyba,  and  runs,  under  the  names  of 
Serra  Grande,  Serra  da  Ybiapaba  or  Cratheus,  in  an  al 
most  southerly  direction,  to  the  confines  of  the  province  of 
Pernambuco,  where  it  ties  in  with  the  great  serra  running 

*  This  name  is  spelled  in  a  variety  of  ways,  as  Ybiapaba,  Hibiappaba,  Ipia- 
paba,  &c.  Some  would  make  it  mean  land  of  precipices.  According  to  the 
Diet,  da  Lingoa  Tupi,  Ih/  apuba  means  terra  talhada,  or  (/ashed  kind. 


PROVINCE   OF   CEARA.  457 

southwest,  forming  the  water-shed  between  the  basins  of 
the  Parnahyba  and  Sao  Francisco,  and  called  the  Serra  dos 
Dous  Irmaos  or  Borborema. 

In  all  this  extension  the  serra  presents  steep  slopes  and 
often  precipitous  sides  towards  the  east,  but  its  top  is  per 
fectly  flat,  forming  a  chapada,  according  to  Feijo,  2,000 
to  2,400  teet  high.  This  chapada  is  in  some  places  from 
thirty-two  to  fifty-six  miles  in  width.  On  the  western  side 
the  slope  is  not  so  marked,  and  the  country  appears  to  grow 
gradually  lower  all  the  way  eastward  to  the  river  Parna 
hyba.  At  Cratheus  the  serra  is  abruptly  broken  through 
by  the  valley  of  the  Poty.  As  to  the  exact  structure  of  any 
part  of  this  serra  in  detail  our  information  is  very  scanty, 
but  from  the  observations  of  Gardner,  Capanema,  Feij6, 
Pompeo,  and  others,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  it  is  com 
posed  of  comparatively  modern  stratified  rocks  lying  hor 
izontally  on  disturbed  gneissose  and  other  metamorphic 
strata. 

The  horizontal  strata  appear  to  be  principally  sandstones. 
Gardner  supposed  that  the  whole  range  was  cretaceous.  On 
this  head  I  shall  have  more  to  say  farther  on.  The  serra 
separating  the  Province  of  Ceara  from  Pernambuco  is  called 
Araripe.  .This  range  is  of  the  same  general  character  as 
the  serra  just  described.  At  the  end  of  the  Termo  do  Jar- 
dim  it  grows  very  low,  and  Dr.  Pompe'o  describes  the  water 
shed  between  the  Blacho  dos  Porcos,  which  flows  into  the 
Rio  Salgado  in  Ceara  from  the  Riacho  do  Mundo  Novo, 
which  flows  towards  the  Sao  Francisco,  as  of  very  little  ele 
vation,  and  it  has  been  thought  practicable  to  connect  over 
it  the  waters  of  the  Rio  de  Sao  Francisco  with  those  of  the 
Salgado  in  Ceara.  Beyond  this  point  the  serra,  after  suffer 
ing  continual  interruptions,  stretches  northward  along  the 

VOL.  i.  20 


458  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

eastern  border  of  the  province,  until  near  the  sea  it  meets 
with  the  Plateau  of  Appodi. 

The  province  is  divided  into  two  portions  by  a  line  of 
serras  which  runs  from  the  sea-shore  near  the  capital  south 
west  or  south-southwest  to  the  Serra  da-Ybiapaba.  The 
southeastern  half  of  the  province  forms  a  single  river  basin, 
and  is  watered  by  the  river  Jaguaribe  and  its  tributaries. 
The  western  is  watered  by  a  host  of  little  rivers,  all  flowing 
directly  into  the  sea. 

The  coast  forms  a  broad  belt  of  sands  but  slightly  elevated 
above  the  sea.  This  belt  varies  in  width  from  four  to  six 
leagues.  (Pompe'o.)  The  sands  are  light  and  piled  up 
more  or  less  in  dunes,  while  in  some  places  they  drift 
inland  to  a  considerable  distance.  The  low  coast  lands, 
which  have  a  coating  of  alluvial  matter,  are  very  fertile,  and 
are  planted  with  cane,  mandioca,  &c. 

From  the  coast  the  land  rises  gradually  towards  the 
serras, 'and  is  uneven  though  not  properly  mountainous, 
being  diversified  by  hills  and  plains.  According  to  the 
descriptions  of  Dr.  Pompe'o,  the  sertao,  or  the  greater  part 
of  the  area  of  the  lower  country,  is  composed  of  mica-slate, 
gneiss,  and  other  metamorphic  rock.*  The  country  appears 
to  have  been  once  covered  by  a  sheet  of  sandstone  similar  to 
the  great  sandstone  formation  of  Piauhy,  to  be  described  in 
the  next  chapter.  This  has  been  denuded  to  a  great  extent, 
the  sandstone  in  many  cases  being  left  capping  the  hills. 

The  climate  in  the  interior  is  very  hot  and  dry,  but  on 
the  sea-coast  it  is  moist  and  more  tempered  by  the  refresh- 

*  Pompeo,  Ensaio  Estatistico  da  Provincia  do  Ceard,  p.  145,  says:  "In  the 
sert2o  limestone  and  marble  occur  in  many  places,  as  in  the  Serrote  de  Canta- 
gallo  (Caminho  de  Baturite"),  where  the  rock  is  a  primitive  marble,  Giboia,  four 
or  five  leagues  from  the  capital,  £c.,  &c.  Capanema  reports  graphite  in  con 
nection  with  limestone. 


PROVINCE   OF   CEARA.  459 

ing  breezes  that  blow  in  from  the  ocean.  The  greatest 
heat  experienced  on  the  sertao  is  35°  Cent.  (95°  Fahr.),  and 
the  temperature  does  not  fall  below  18°  Cent.  (64.4  Fahr.) 

The  rainy  season  begins  in  January  or  March  arid  lasts 
until  June.  The  rest  of  the  year  is  without  rain,  the  rivers 
and  streams  dry  up,  and  occasionally  the  want  of  water  over 
certain  tracts  is  such  that  the  inhabitants  are  obliged  to 
leave  for  more  favored  districts.  Accioli  *  says  that  in 
1792  a  drought  prevailed  for  four  months,  and  caused  the 
inhabitants  of  seven  frequezias  to  abandon  them  entirely.! 
Other  noted  seccas  prevailed  during  the  years  1825  and  1845. 

Pompe'o  divides  the  soil  into  lelra-mar,  which  is  fitted  for 
agricultural  purposes ;  montuoso,  productive  and  covered 
with  forest;  and  sertao,  dry,  cut  up  by  taboleiros,  hills,  &c., 
and  with  brooks  dry  during  the  summer. 

The  sertao  is  valuable  for  pasturage,  and  Ceara  is  noted 
for  its  cattle,  of  which,  according  to  official  papers,  there 
were,  in  1854,  about  310,000  head,  with  nearly  40,000 
horses.  Cheese  is  manufactured  in  considerable  quantity, 
not  only  for  home  consumption,  but  for  export. 

Among  the  natural  vegetable  productions  may  be  men 
tioned  the  following :  The  Quina,  ipecacuanha,  tatajuba, 
jacaranda,  cedro,  pao  d'arco,  and  a  host  of  other  species  of 
woods  valuable  for  building  and  dying  purposes,  and  the 
balsamo,  jatoba,  almescar,  mane^oba,  carnahuba,  caju,  man- 
gaba,  &c.,  &c. 

Cotton,  coffee,  sugar-cane,  and  the  other  vegetable  pro 
ductions  of  Northern  Brazil,  are  here  cultivated.  $ 

*   Cororjrafia  do  Brasil,  p.  49. 

t  A  very  graphic  account  of  the  droughts  of  the  northeastern  coast  of  Brazil 
is  to  be  found  in  Roster's  Travels  in  Brazil. 

}  Pompe'o  gives  the  following  amounts  of  cotton,  sugar,  and  coffee  exported 
between  July,  1857,  and  April,  1858  :  Cotton,  52,552  ;  sugar,  121,697;  Coffee, 
304,009  arrobas. 


460  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

The  capital  city  is  Fortaleza,  or  Ceara,  a  city  of  some 
16,000  inhabitants,  situated  on  the  coast  about  two  leagues 
distant  from  the  mouth  of  the  river  Ceara.  Its  principal 
importance  consists  in  its  export  of  coffee.  Besides  the  capi 
tal  there  are  seven  other  small  cities  in  the  province,  namely, 
Aracaty,  eight  miles  above  the  month  of  the  Jaguaribe  on 
the  east  bank,  a  place  next  to  the  capital  in  importance, 
and  noted,  amongst  other  things,  for  its  manufacture  of 
carnahuba  candles,  sole-leather,  <fcc.,  &c ;  Ic6,  a  fearfully 
hot  place,  about  thirty  leagues  from  Aracaty,  on  the  Rio 
Salgado ;  Crato,  situated  in  a  fertile  district  eighty  leagues 
from  the  sea  ;  Granja,  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  Camocim, 
a  good  port  and  stopping-place  for  steamers  from  Pernam- 
buco ;  Quixeramobim,  a  little  city  in  a  cattle  district  in  the 
sertao  ;  Baturite,  sixteen  leagues  from  the  capital,  and  noted 
for  its  activity  in  the  cultivation  of  coffee,  sugar-cane,  &c.  ; 
and  Maranguape,  also  noted  for  its  coffee  and  sugar  planta 
tions. 

The  whole  population  of  the  province  is  probably  about 
540,000. 

In  the  year  1841  Gardner  published,  in  the  "  Edinburgh 
New  Philosophical  Journal,"  *  a  short  paper  on  the  geology 
of  Ceara.  This  article  gives  so  clear  and  minute  a  descrip 
tion  of  the  country,  and  contains  so  many  important  geologi 
cal  facts,  that  I  think  it  worthy  of  being  reproduced  almost 
in  full,  particularly  since  I  shall  have  to  examine  critically 
some  of  his  general  conclusions  arrived  at,  not  only  in  this 
paper,  but  also  in  his  since  published  "  Travels  in  Brazil." 

*  Geological  Notes  made  during  a  Journey  from  the  Coast  into  the  Interior 
of  the  Province  of  Ceara,  in  the  North  of  Brazil,  embracing  an  Account  of  a 
Deposit  of  Fossil  Fishes,  by  George  Gardner,  Esq.,  Edinburgh  New  Philosophi 
cal  Journal,  April,  1841,  p.  75. 


PROVINCE   OF   CEARA.  461 

Mr.  Gardner  says  :  — 

"  I  landed  at  the  northeast  corner  of  the  province,  at  the  town 
of  Aracaty,  which  is  situated  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Rio  Jaguaribe, 
at  three  leagues  from  the  coast.  The  first  thing  that  struck  me 
on  my  arrival  was  the  flatness  of  the  country  around  it,  reminding 
one  of  the  descriptions  which  are  given  of  the  pampas  of  Buenos 
Ayres.  With  the  exception  of  a  few  low  sand-hills  towards  the  sea, 
and  a  round,  isolated  one  about  eight  hundred  feet  high,  situated 
two  and  a  half  leagues  to  the  southwest  of  the  town,  called  the  Serra 
de  Arere,  there  is  nothing  to  interrupt  the  uniform  level.  The  soil 
for  many  leagues  around  is  of  a  sandy  nature,  and  the  character 
istic  vegetation  is  a  beautiful  species  of  palm  called  carnahuba  by 
the  Brazilians.  It  is  the  Corypha  cerifera  of  Martius,  and  is  so 
abundant  that,  on  my  journey  south  to  the  Villa  do  Ic6, 1  rode  for 
about  two  days  through  a  forest  of  almost  nothing  else.  Two  and 
a  half  leagues  to  the  south  of  Aracaty  I  first  met  with  rocks. 
This  was  on  crossing  the  river  at  a  place  called  the  Passagem  das 
Pedras.  I  found  them  to  consist  of  thin  strata  of  gneiss,  almost 
in  a  vertical  position.  The  little  inclination  which  they  had  was 
towards  the  northwest,  in  the  direction  of  the  above-mentioned 
Serra  de  Arere'.  From  this  place  to  the  Villa  do  Sao  Bernardo,  a 
distance  of  a  little  less  than  eight  leagues,  the  country  continues 
perfectly  flat,  but  the  ground  among  the  carnahuba  palms,  and  in 
several  large  open  spaces  almost  destitute  of  vegetation,  called 
vargens,  is  covered  with  abundance  of  gravel ;  and  this,  which 
extends  over  large  tracts,  gives  it  the  appearance  of  the  dried-up 
bed  of  an  immense  river.  Intermingled  with  this  gravel  there 
are  numerous  boulders  of  varioxis  sizes,  the  largest  I  saw  not  being 
more  than  four  feet  high.  They  are  all  more  or  less  rounded,  and 
consist  of  granite,  gneiss,  and  quartz.  For  the  next  ten  leagues 
the  country  continues  nearly  of  the  same  character,  with  the 
exception  of  a  low  range  of  gravelly  hills  running  from  east  to 
west,  and  wooded  with  shrubs  and  small  trees,  the  most  common 
of  which  is  a  species  of  mimosa.  During  the  next  ten  leagues  a 


462  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

slight  but  perceptible  rise  of  the  country  takes  place.  The  soil  is 
generally  a  yellow-colored  clay,  in  many  places  thickly  covered  with 
gravel  and  boulders,  while  in  others  gneiss  rocks  are  seen  cropping 
out  and  forming  often  long  slightly  elevated  ridges  covered  with  a 
species  of  cactus  and  a  large  bromelia.  Their  strata,  like  those 
farther  down,  are  almost  vertical.  In  this  tract  carnahuba  palms 
become  less  numerous,  and  small  dicotyledonous  trees  and  shrubs 
more  abundant,  but  all  of  them  in  the  dry  season,  at  which  time 
I  passed,  destitute  of  leaves.  These  deciduous  woods,  which  often 
cover  large  tracts  of  country,  are  called  catingas  by  the  Brazil 
ians.  These  tracts  are  still  farther  characterized  by  three  large 
species  of  cacti,  belonging  to  the  genus  Cereus.  During  the 
next  twenty  leagues,  which  brought  me  to  the  Villa  do  Ico,  the 
nature  of  the  country  differs  in  again  becoming  more  level,  con 
sisting  of  large  open  campos  or  vargens,  the  vegetation  of  which, 
during  the  dry  season,  is  quite  burnt  up,  but  they  are  said  to 
yield  abundance  of  grass  during  the  rains  ;  and  the  catingas  or 
deciduoiis  woods  are  much  larger  than  they  are  farther  down. 
The  rocks  are  gneiss  and  quartz,  and  in  several  places  large  tracts 
are  covered  with  fragments  of  the  latter,  more  or  less  rounded. 
At  about  ten  leagues  below  Ico,  the  monotonous  level  of  the  coun 
try  is  varied  by  a  mountain  range,  which  makes  its  appearance  to 
the  eastward.  This  is  the  Serra  de  Pereira.  It  runs  from  the 
southwest  to  the  northeast,  It  is  sixteen  leagues  in  length,  but 
its  greatest  height  is  not  more  than  one  thousand  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  plains  in  which  it  is  situated.  The  structure  of  its 
southwest  extremity  at  least  is  entirely  primitive,  but  near  its  base 
I  observed  a  coarse  red  conglomerate,  containing  rounded  fragments 
of  both  primitive  and  secondary  rocks. 

"  The  Villa  do  Ico,  which  is  one  of  the  finest  in  the  interior  of 
the  north  of  Brazil,  is  situated  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Rio  Ja- 
guaribe,  in  the  middle  of  one  of  the  large  open  campos  which  I 
have  already  described,  and  during  the  dry  season  is  one  of  tho 
most  miserable  places  imaginable  to  live  in.  The  country  around 


PROVINCE   OF   CEARA.  463 

it  is  then  so  much  dried  up  that  not  a  green  leaf  is  to  be  seen  ; 
and  the  river,  which  during  the  rains  is  of  considerable  size, 
becomes  quite  dry.  The  houses  are  all  built  of  brick,  which  are 
made  from  a  very  good  kind  of  clay  found  in  the  neighborhood, 
and  are  all  whitewashed  on  the  outside  with  a  white  limestone, 
which  is  found  about  ten  leagues  to  the  west  of  the  villa. 

"  From  Ico  I  went  to  the  Villa  do  Crato,  which  is  about  thirty- 
four  leagues  to  the  southwest  of  the  former  place.  Between  these 
two  places  the  country  is  of  a  more  hilly,  undulating  character, 
more  abundantly  wooded,  the  trees  larger,  and  many  of  them  ever 
green.  Owing  to  these  circumstances  but  few  of  the  large 
campos  which  exist  below  Ico  are  met  with.  The  carriage  of 
goods  between  Aracaty  and  Ico  is  effected  in  large  wagons,  gener 
ally  drawn  by  twelve  oxen ;  but  the  hilly  nature  of  the  country 
between  Ico  and  Crato  does  not  admit  of  this  mode  of  conveyance, 
the  backs  of  horses  and  even  of  oxen  being  made  use  of  instead. 
Shortly  after  leaving  Ico  I  passed  over  the  southwest  end  of  the 
Serra  de  Pereira  at  a  place  where  it  has  but  a  slight  elevation  and 
consists  entirely  of  gneiss.  From  this  place  to  the  Villa  das 
Lavras  da  Mangabeira,  a  distance  of  about  ten  leagues,  the  country 
is  of  a  gently  undulating  nature,  and  in  many  places  well  wooded. 
This  villa,  which  is  situated  close  to  the  Rio  Jaguaribe,  takes  its 
name  from  a  number  of  small  gold-workings  (lavras)  which,  from 
time  to  time,  for  many  years  past,  have  been  wrought  in  its  neigh 
borhood.  Nothing,  however,  was  done  to  any  extent  till  about 
two  years  ago,  when  two  English  miners  were  sent  for  by  a  com 
pany  in  the  city  of  Ceara,  the  capital  of  the  province.  They  con 
tinued  their  labors  till  about  two  months  before  I  passed  through 
the  place,  having  been  recalled  by  their  employers.  I  could  not 
learn  what  amount  of  gold  they  had  obtained,  but  the  persons  of 
whom  I  made  inquiries  remarked,  with  apparently  much  truth, 
that  they  did  not  believe  it  was  sufficient  to  repay  the  expense, 
or  the  work  would  not  have  been  abandoned.  The  gold  is  here 
found  in  small  particles,  in  a  dark-colored  diluvial  soil,  at  a  con- 


464  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL    GEOGRAPHY. 

siderable  depth ;  but  the  place  being  shut  up,  I  had  not  an  oppor 
tunity  of  examining  it. 

"  At  about  eighteen  leagues  below  Crato  I  lost  sight  of  the 
gneiss  rocks,  and  for  the  next  four  found  them  replaced  by  a  gray- 
colored  primitive  clay-slate.  At  the  termination  of  this,  the 
secondary  stratified  series  begins,  the  few  rocks  which  I  met  with 
from  thence  to  Crato  consisting  of  a  white  coarse-grained  sand 
stone. 

"  The  small  Villa  do  Crato  stands  in  the  middle  of  a  large 
undulating  valley,  which  is  bounded  to  the  south,  to  the  west,  and 
to  the  north  by  mountains  which,  in  their  highest  parts,  do  not 
rise  more  than  from  1,200  to  1,500  feet  above  the  level  of  the 
town.  The  country  around  is  very  fertile,  producing  abundance 
of  cane,  from  which  an  impure  sugar,  in  the  form  of  small  square 
cakes,  is  made,  mandioca,  Indian  corn,  rice,  cotton,  and  tobacco, 
besides  all  the  varieties  of  fruit  which  are  to  be  met  with  on  the 
coast.  The  great  cause  of  this  fertility  is  the  numerous  springs 
which  exist  along  the  foot  of  the  mountains.  The  small  streams 
which  proceed  from  these  are  divaricated  in  a  thousand  directions, 
for  the  purpose  of  irrigating  the  plantations.  The  mountains  are 
branches  of  the  long  range  which  separates  the  provinces  of  the 
coast  from  that  of  Piauhy  to  the  west,  which  here  receives  the 
name  of  Serra  de  Araripe.  Their  tops  are  perfectly  level,  and  ex 
tend  so  for  many  leagues  to  the  westward  and  southward,  forming 
what  the  Brazilians  call  Taboleiras.  I  have  ascended  this  range 
in  all  directions,  and  have  universally  found  it  to  consist  of  a 
generally  white-colored  sandstone,  but  in  many  places  it  is  of  a 
reddish  tinge.  In  the  bed  of  one  of  the  largest  streams  which  pro 
ceed  from  it,  where  a  section  of  the  rocks  to  a  considerable  depth 
is  formed,  I  found  a  stratum  of  limestone  about  three  feet  thick, 
immediately  below  the  sandstone,  and  below  it  another  of  an 
impure  coal,  two  feet  thick,  resting  on  another  stratum  of  lime 
stone.  Nothing  seems  to  have  disturbed  the  strata,  as  they  all 
lie  in  a  perfectly  horizontal  position,  and  the  level  nature  of  the 


PROVINCE   OF   CEARA.  465 

serra  proves  that  this  is  general.  In  the  limestone  I  could  meet 
with  no  fossil  remains.  The  temperature  of  two  of  the  springs, 
which  rise  at  the  base  of  the  serra  I  found  on  examination  to  be 
75°  Fahrenheit. 

"  That  part  of  the  serra  which  lies  to  the  south  of  Crato  is  a 
branch  which  runs  about  ten  leagues  to  the  eastward.  On  the 
south  side  of  it  there  is  another  small  villa  called  Barra  do  Jardim, 
distant  from  Crato  about  fourteen  leagues.  I  went  to  this  place 
partly  for  the  purpose  of  botanizing  and  partly  to  make  a  collec 
tion  of  fossil  fishes,  which  I  was  informed  were  found  in  great 
plenty  in  its  neighborhood.  The  road  skirts  along  the  base  of  the 
serra  in  a  southeast  direction  for  about  five  leagues,  at  the  termi 
nation  of  which  it  is  necessary  to  ascend  it  for  the  purpose  of 
crossing  to  the  other  side.  The  ascent  is  far  from  being  good,  it 
being  left  entirely  in  the  hands  of  nature.  The  only  rock  I 
observed  was  sandstone,  similar  to  that  which  exists  at  Crato. 
The  breadth  of  the  serra  here  is  nearly  eight  leagues,  and  during 
the  whole  of  this  distance  the  road  is  as  level  as  a  bowling-green ; 
and,  as  no  water  is  to  be  found  on  it,  travellers  are  obliged  to 
supply  themselves  with  it  before  ascending.  For  small  parties  it 
is  carried  in  calabashes,  but  when  many  pass  together  a  horse  is 
provided  to  carry  two  large  leather  bagfuls.  These  Taboleiras 
are  generally  thinly  wooded,  with  small  trees,  the  principal  of 
which  are  a  species  of  Caryocar  called  Pike,  a  small  tree  belong 
ing  to  the  natural  order  Apocynacese,  which  produces  a  delicious 
fruit  called  Mangaba,  a  fine  species  of  Brysonema,  the  Cashew 
[caju]  (Anacardium  occidentale\  a  purple-flowered  Qualea,  and 
several  small  leguminous  trees  belonging  to  the  division  Rectem- 
briae. 

"  The  Villa  da  Barra  do  Jardim  stands  in  a  small  valley,  upwards 
of  a  league  in  length,  and  in  its  broadest  part  about  half  a  league 
in  breadth.  It  is  bounded  to  the  north  and  east  by  the  branch  of 
the  serra  which  I  crossed  over,  and  to  the  west  by  another,  but 
neither  so  broad  nor  so  long.  Having  made  inquiries  for  the  place 
20*  DD 


466  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

where  the  fossil  fishes  were  to  be  found,  I  was  directed  to  a  rising 
ground  which  extends  along  the  foot  of  the  serra.  On  my  arrival 
at  an  open  place  of  this  gently  sloping  ridge  to  the  north  of  the 
villa,  I  found  the  ground  covered  with  great  abundance  of  stones 
of  various  sizes,  and  I  was  informed  that  almost  every  one  of 
them  on  being  broken  presented  some  part  or  other  of  a  fish. 
These  fragments  I  soon  found  to  consist  of  compact  fawn-colored 
limestone.  They  are  of  all  sizes,  from  pieces  not  larger  than  an  egg 
to  blocks  of  several  feet  in  circumference,  and  are  almost  all  rounded 
and  smoothly  polished,  having  apparently  been  for  a  long  time 
under  the  influence  of  a  current  of  water.  They,  in  general,  split 
very  readily,  and  almost  all  of  them  present  parts  of  a  fish  in  a 
more  or  less  perfect  state.  But  by  far  the  greater  number  of 
them  are  so  much  broken  that  it  is  with  considerable  difficulty 
tolerably  perfect  specimens  can  be  obtained.  The  spot  which 
these  stones  occupy  is  not  above  an  hundred  yards  square,  and 
almost  no  other  stone  is  mixed  with  them  ;  but  on  every  side  of 
this  deposit  the  ground  is  covered  with  little  rounded  sandstones, 
similar  to  the  rock  of  which  the  serra  is  composed.  Besides  this 
I  afterwards  visited  other  deposits,  one  half  a  league  to  the  south 
of  it ;  one  at  a  place  called  Maccape,  five  leagues  to  the  east  of 
Jardim  ;  and  another  at  Mundo  Novo,  three  leagues  to  the  west : 
all  perfectly  similar  to  the  one  I  have  described,  being  all  sitxiated 
on  the  declivity  of  the  low  hills  which  stand  between  the  valley 
and  the  serra,  and  all  occupying  places  which  are  almost  altogether 
free  from  other  kinds  of  stone.  From  these  places  1  have  obtained 
a  suite  of  specimens,  embracing  upwards  of  a  dozen  species  of 
fossil  fish.*  They  vary  in  size  from  those  of  a  few  inches  in  length 
to  others  which  must  have  been  several  feet;  and  all  of  them,  so 
far  as  my  limited  knowledge  of  the  subject  allows  me  to  judge, 
except  two  species,  belong  to  the  order  Cydoideoe  of  M.  Agassiz. 
The  most  abundant  species  is  one  of  those  which  do  not  belong  to 

*  Mr.  J.  E.  Bowman  in   a   note  says:  "Agassiz   makes   them  but  seven 
species,  and  refers  three  of  them  to  the  Ctenoid  group." 


PROVINCE   OF   CEARA.  467 

this  order.  Of  it  I  possess  a  nearly  perfect  specimen  about  a  foot 
and  a  half  long,  but,  judging  from  other  fragments  of  the  same 
species,  it  must  have  attained  a  much  larger  size.*  It  has  the 
head  very  much  elongated,  and  the  scales  of  the  back  and  abdo 
men  are  angular,  while  those  of  the  sides  consist  of  but  one  row 
of  long,  narrow  ones,  arranged  vertically.  Of  the  other  species  I 
only  possess  the  tail  and  a  very  small  part  of  the  body.  It  differs 
from  the  last  in  appearing  to  be  entirely  covered  with  small 
angular  scales.  Both  of  them  I  have  no  doubt  belong  to  the  order 
Ganoideas  of  M.  Agassiz.f 

"  On  breaking  these  stones,  some  of  them  exhibit  abundance  of 
a  minute  bivalve  shell ;  and  at  Mundo  Novo  I  met  with  a  very 
perfect  specimen  of  what  I  believe  will  prove  to  be  a  species  of 
Turrilites,  about  an  inch  and  a  half  long,  and  a  single  valve  of  a 
Venus  about  half  an  inch  in  length  and  in  very  excellent  preser 
vation.  Both  of  them  were  found  in  the  same  fragment  of  lime 
stone.  I  was  informed  by  a  person  in  Jardim  that  a  few  years  ago 
he  found  a  small  serpent  coiled  up  in  a  stone  which  had  been  split, 
but  this,  no  doubt,  was  a  species  of  Ammonites.  In  the  several 
hundred  stones,  however,  which  I  broke  in  search  of  fish,  I  met 
with  nothing  of  this  description.  During  my  excursions  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Barra  do  Jardim  I  nowhere  met  with  limestone 
in  situ." 

When  we  come  to  discuss,  in  the  next  chapter,  the  ge 
ology  of  the  neighboring  province  of  Piauhy,  we  shall  have 
an  opportunity  of  seeing  how  correct  Dr.  Gardner's  conclu 
sions  are  with  reference  to  the  age  of  the  sandstone  beds. 

*  "  The  fish  here  described  is  the  Aspidorhynchus  Comptoni  Agass.  — 
J.  E.  B." 

t  Specimens  of  these  fish  find  their  way  all  along  the  coast,  and  it  may  he 
well  for  future  observers  to  remember  this.  I  had  a  specimen  of  Aspido- 
rhynchus  given  me  at  Penedo,  and  specimens  of  another  genus  were  sent  me 
recently  by  Mr.  Laue  from  Mtiro'im. 


468  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

The  above  paper  was  followed  in  the  same  journal  by 
a  communication  by  Professor  Agassiz,  in  which  the  species 
of  fossil  fish  were  named  and  described,  the  opinion  being 
expressed  that  they  were  of  cretaceous  age. 

The  first  notice  I  have  seen  of  the  fossil  fishes  of  Piauhy 
and  Ceard  is  made  by  Spix  and  Martius  in  their  Travels, 
one  of  the  species  being  figured  in  the  atlas  accompanying 
their  work. 

In  1838  Mr.  Nicolet  placed  in  the  hands  of  Professor 
Agassiz  a  few  specimens  he  had  received  from  Pernambuco. 

Gardner's  specimens,  in  the  collections  of  Mr.  Bowman, 
the  Marquis  of  Southampton,  Lord  Enniskillen,  and  Sir 
Philip  Egerton,  were  examined  by  Agassiz  in  1840.  Two 
years  later  M.  F.  Chabrillac  sent  to  M.  Elie  de  Beau- 
moiit  from  Pernambuco  a  few  more  specimens  he  had 
obtained  from  Ceara.  These  were  placed  in  the  hands  of 
Professor  Agassiz,  who  made  a  long  report  on  them  in  a 
letter  addressed  to  M.  Elie  de  Beaumont,  published  in  the 
Comptes  Eendus,  Vol.  XVIII.  p.  1007.  In  this  letter  Agas 
siz  enumerates  seven  species  as  known  to  him  from  the 
province  of  Ceara,  viz.  :  — 

Aspldorhynclius  Comptus  Ag. 

Lepidotus  temnurus  Ag. 

Rkacolcpis  bvccalis  Ag. 

Rhacolepls  Olfersii  Ag. 

Rhacolepis  latus  Ag. 

Cladocyclus  Gardncri  Ag. 

Calamopleurus  cylindricus  Ag. 

Professor  Agassiz  in  the  above-mentioned  letter  restates 
his  belief  in  the  cretaceous  age  of  the  fishes  ;  and  recent 
examinations  of  considerable  collections  in  Rio  confirm  him 
in  this  opinion. 


PROVINCE   OF   GEAR  A.  469 

From  Ceara,  the  capital  of  the  province,  Professor  Agassiz 
made  a  journey  to  the  serras,  and  studied  the  glacial  phe 
nomena  there  exhibited.  Between  the  sea  and  the  Serra 
de  Aratanha  he  reports  that  he  found  everywhere  on  the 
higher  lands  a  morainic  soil  with  boulders. 

"  On  this  very  serra  of  Aratanha,"  says  Mrs.  Agassiz,  "  at  the 
foot  of  which  we  happen  to  have  taken  up  our  quarters,  the  glacial 
phenomena  are  as  legible  as  in  any  of  the  valleys  of  Maine,  or  in 
those  of  the  mountains  of  Cumberland  in  England.  It  had  evi 
dently  a  local  glacier  formed  by  the  meeting  of  two  arms,  which 
descended  from  two  depressions  spreading  right  and  left  on  the 
upper  part  of  the  serra  and  joining  below  in  the  main  valley.  A 
large  part  of  the  medial  moraine  formed  by  the  meeting  of  these 
two  arms  can  still  be  traced  in  the  central  valley.  One  of  the 
lateral  moraines  is  perfectly  preserved,  the  village  road  cutting- 
through  it ;  while  the  village  itself  is  built  just  within  the  ter 
minal  moraine  which  is  thrown  up  in  a  long  ridge  in  front  of  it."  * 

At  the  close  of  the  chapter  from  which  I  make  the  above 
extract  Professor  Agassiz  himself  says  :  — 

"  I  spent  the  rest  of  the  day  in  a  special  examination  of  the 
right  lateral  moraine  and  part  of  the  front  moraine  of  the  glacier 
of  Pacatuba ;  my  object  was  especially  to  ascertain  whether  what 
appeared  a  moraine  at  first  might  not,  after  all,  be  a  spur  of  the 
serra  decomposed  in  place.  I  ascended  the  ridge  to  its  very  origin, 
and  there  crossed  into  an  adjoining  depression,  immediately  below 
the  sitio  of  Captain  Henriques,  where  I  found  another  glacial  bot 
tom  of  smaller  dimensions,  the  ice  of  which  probably  never  reached 
the  plain.  Everywhere  in  the  ridges  encircling  these  depressions 
the  loose  materials  and  large  boulders  were  so  accumulated  and 
imbedded  in  clay  or  sand  that  their  morainic  character  is  un 
mistakable.  Occasionally,  where  a  ledge  of  the  underlying  rock 

*  A  Journey  in  Brazil,  p.  456.   The  Serra  de  Aratanha  is  composed  of  gneiss. 


470  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

crops  out,  in  places  where  the  drift  has  been  removed  by  denuda 
tion,  the  difference  between  the  moraine  and  the  rock  decomposed 
in  place  is  recognized  at  once.  It  is  equally  easy  to  distinguish 
the  boulders  which  here  and  there  have  rolled  down  from  the 
mountain  and  stopped  against  the  moraine.  The  three  things  are 
side  by  side,  and  might  at  first  be  easily  confounded,  but  a  little 
familiarity  makes  it  easy  to  distinguish  them.  When  the  lateral 
moraine  turns  toward  the  foot  of  the  ancient  glacier,  near  the 
point  at  which  the  brook  of  Pacatuba  cuts  through  the  former, 
and  a  little  to  the  west  of  the  brook,  there  are  colossal  boulders 
leaning  against  the  moraine,  from  the  summit  of  which  they  have 
probably  rolled  down.  Near  the  cemetery  the  front  moraine  con 
sists  almost  entirely  of  small  quartz  pebbles  ;  there  are,  however, 
a  few  large  blocks  among  them.  The  medial  moraine  extends 
nearly  through  the  centre  of  the  village,  while  the  left-hand  lateral 
moraine  lies  outside  of  the  village,  at  its  eastern  end,  and  is  trav 
ersed  by  the  road  leading  to  Ceara.  It  is  not  impossible  that 
eastward,  a  third  tributary  of  the  serra  may  have  reached  the 
main  glacier  of  the  Pacatuba.  I  may  say  that  in  the  whole  valley 
of  Hasli  there  are  no  accumulations  of  morainic  materials  more 
characteristic  than  those  I  have  found  here,  not  even  about  the 
Kirchet ;  neither  are  there  any  remains  of  the  kind  more  striking 
about  the  valleys  of  Mount  Desert  in  Maine,  where  the  glacial 
phenomena  are  so  remarkable  ;  nor  in  the  valleys  of  Loch  Fine, 
Loch  Augh,  and  Loch  Long  in  Scotland,  where  the  traces  of 
ancient  glaciers  are  so  distinct." 

From  Dr.  Felice,  a  land  surveyor  familiar  with  the  Serra 
Grande,  Professor  Agassiz  learned  that  "  there  is  a  wall  of 
loose  materials,  boulders,  stones,  &c.,  running  from  east  to 
west  for  a  distance  of  some  sixty  leagues  from  the  Rio 
Aracaty-assu  to  Bom  Jesus  in  the  Serra  Grande  "  ;  and  this 
wall  Professor  Agassiz  believes  to  he  a  part  of  the  lateral 
moraine  loft  by  a  great  Amazonian  glacier. 


PROVINCES   OF   CEAEA.  471 

Bones  of  huge  Mammals,  Mastodons  and  Megatheria,  are 
abundant  in  various  parts  of  the  province,  and  perfect  skel 
etons  have  been  found.  Some  of  the  localities  are  the  fol 
lowing  :  Santa  Catharina,  (lagoa,)  Sitio  Cronzo,  at  the  foot 
of  the  Serra  Ybiapaba  at  Inhamuns  ;  between  Cratheus  and 
Quixeramobim  ;  Timbauba  ;  in  the  place  called  Sucatinga  a 
skeleton  was  found  in  an  excavation,  and  part  was  sent  to 
Rio ;  at  Sta.  Cruz,  in  a  lagoa,  another  skeleton  was  found. 

The  following  notes  on  the  mineral  productions  of  the 
province  are  taken  from  Dr.  Pompeo's  Ensaio :  — 

Amethysts.  Serra  do  Taua.  Some  of  the  crystals  from  this  prov 
ince  are  very  large  and  of  a  beautiful  color. 

Gypsum.    Araripe  (fibrous)  Cairiri. 

Saltpetre.  Found  all  over  the  interior,  but  more  particularly  at 
the  following  places :  Tatajuba,  where  it  was  extracted  by  the 
government ;  Pindoba  (government  works) ;  Tagycioca  em  Guru ; 
Carnahubal  em  Sao  Pedro  de  Villa  Vic.osa ;  Boassu  na  Granja ; 
Conceicjio,  Guru. ;  Pirangi,  Choro ;  Uruburetama ;  Ipu,  «fec. 

Salt.  In  various  parts  of  the  Jardim,  of  the  Sertao,  and  especially 
in  the  Aracaty-assu,  the  waters  are  impregnated  with  salt.  As 
elsewhere  there  are,  in  argillaceous  soils,  salt  licks  much  fre 
quented  by  cattle.  Salt  is  largely  manufactured  on  the  coast 
from  sea-water. 

Alum.  Feijo  says  that  a  considerable  surface  in  the  Inhamuns  is 
covered  with  alum.  Capanema  reports  it  from  Araripe. 

Magnesia.    Cafundo,  Inhamuns. 

Carbonate  of  Potassium.    Ipu,  Serra  Grande,  Crato,  S.  Gonc_alo. 

Amianthus.    Cairiri,  in  veins.      Quixeramobim  near  Lavras. 

Lignite.    Quixeramobim. 

Gold*   Granja,  Baturite,  Crato,  Termo  de  Milagres,  Ipu,  Rio  Sal- 

*  Feijo,  quoted  by  Dr.  Pompe'o,  Ensaio,  &c.,  1 52,  says :  "  De  ouro  encontram- 
f=e  mais  on  menos  vestiffios  por  todos  os  riachos,  corregos  e  vertentes  das  mon- 
tanhas,  que  formao  as  costaneiras  da  serra  grande,  desde  a  Timonha  ate'  Can- 


472  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

gado  from  Missao-Velha  to  Lavras.  In  all  these  places  the 
gold  occurs  in  grains  or  powder  in  sands,  gravels,  or  clays ;  its 
source  is  not  known. 

Copper.    Said  to  occur  in  the  Serra  Grande  and  elsewhere. 

Zinc.  Sao  Pedro,  near  the  Serra  da  Maosinha,  Termo  de  Milagres. 
"  Dr.  Theberge  says  that  he  encountered  near  Milagres  a  large 
quantity  of  blende  (sulphide  of  zinc),  so  abundant  that  in  cer 
tain  localities  it  was  only  necessary  to  bum  a  clearing  to  reduce 
the  metal,  which  ran  into  the  hollows,  where  pounds  in  weight 
were  collected."  (Pompeo.) 

Galena.    Ipu,  Quixeramobim. 

Molt/Mate  of  Lead.  (Capanema.)  Near  Villa  Nova. 

Sulphide  of  Antimony.    {Capanema.)    Near  Villa  Nova. 

Graphite.    Baturite,  Quixeramobim,  &c. 

Specular  Iron.  Cangati.  Iron  ore  occurs  in  many  localities  in  the 
province. 

In  the  Comptes  Rendus,  Tome  5me,  p.  211,  I  find  a  statement 
that  on  the  llth  of  December,  1836,  a  large  meteor  passed  over 
Ceara  and  exploded  over  the  village  of  Macao,  at  the  entrance  of 
the  river  Assu,  showering  down  over  a  large  tract  of  country  frag 
ments  of  stone,  many  of  which  penetrated  houses  and  destroyed 
cattle.  One  of  these  fragments  was  sent  by  M.  F.  Berthou  at 
Paris  for  analysis. 

ris,  com  particularidade  nas  vertentes  do  Salgado,  Acaracu  e  Jaguaribe,  no 
Inhamuns,  Banabuihii,  Qnixeramobim,  e  cabcceiras  de  Jure.  Em  todas  essas 
vertentes  e  terrenes  visinhos  basta  lavar  a  terra  que  se  arha  debaixo  do  cascalho 
para  pintar  o  ouro." 


PROVINCE   OF   PIAUHY.  473 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

PROVINCE   OF   PIAUHY. 

Geographical  Position,  Limits,  £c.,  of  the  Province.  —  The  Rio  Parnahyba  and 
its  Tributaries. — Description  of  its  Basin.  —  General  Geological  Structure 
and  Topography  of  the  Province.  —  Table-topped  Hills  of  Sandstone.  —  The 
Serra  dos  Dous  Irmaos  and  its  Structure.  —  Discussion  of  Gardner's  Obser 
vations  on  the  Geology  of  Piauhy  and  Ceara.  —  Gardner  mistaken  in  refer 
ring  the  great  Sandstone  Sheet  to  the  Cretaceous.  —  Sandstones  probably 
Tertiary.  —  Their  great  Extension  over  Brazil.  —  Distribution  of  the  Creta 
ceous  Beds  in  Brazil.  —  Climate  of  Piauhy.  —  The  Campos  Mimosos  and  the 
Campos  Agrestes.  —  Peculiarities  of  their  Vegetation.  —  Productions  of  the 
Province,  Population,  &c. 

THE  province  of  Piauhy  forms  a  rather  long  and  irregular 
strip  lying  west  of  the  province  of  Ceara,  and  to  the  north 
west  of  Pernambuco  and  Bahia.  Its  area  is  about  equal 
to  that  of  Bahia,  and  it  embraces  all  the  country  watered 
by  the  tributaries  of  the  Parnahyba  on  the  eastern  side. 

This  river  takes  its  rise  in  the  Serra  da  Tabatinga  in 
Goyaz,  nearly  on  the  same  parallel  as  that  on  which  the 
mouth  of  the  Rio  de  Sao  Francisco  is  situated,  and  in  the 
angle  formed  by  the  union  of  the  two  hydrographical  basins 
of  the  Tocantins  and  Sao  Francisco.  Its  course  is  approx 
imately  north-northeast;  and  Pompeo  gives  its  length  as 
330  leagues,  which  appears  to  me  to  be  altogether  too  high 
an  estimate.  The  same  author  says  that  it  is  navigable  for 
a  distance  of  260  leagues.  It  has,  according  to  Pompe'o,  six 
mouths,  but  I  cannot  learn  whether  it  has  a  regular  delta. 

On  the  west  side,  in  its  very  upper  course,  a  few  small 


474  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

streams,  namely,  the  Balsas,  Balsinhas,  Penitente,  <fec.,  unite, 
and  with  one  or  two  other  little  rivers  enter  the  main  stream, 
but  for  the  remainder  of  the  distance  to  the  sea  the  Par- 
nahyba  flows  so  close  to  the  western  rim  of  the  hydro- 
graphical  basin  that  it  does  not  receive  another  affluent  of 
importance  from  that  side.  On  the  east,  however,  it  re 
ceives  a  host  of  little  rivers  which  take  their  rise  in  the 
Serra  dos  Dous  Irmaos  and  its  continuation  the  Serra  da 
Ybiapaba.  Most  important  among  these  is  the  Gurgueia, 
which  drains  the  extensive  lake  of  Paranagu4,*  the  Ca- 
ninde,  and  the  Poty. 

The  Rio  Parnahyba  is  a  white-water  stream,  flowing  for 
the  most  of  its  course  through  level,  more  or  less  swampy 
lands,  grown  up  with  thick  bushes  and  groves  of  carnahuba 
and  piassaba  palms.  It  is  without  obstructions,  and  naviga 
ble  for  a  great  distance. 

The  basin  of  the  Parnahyba  is  a  one-sided  one,  the  drain 
age  being  towards  the  east. 

As  the  little  coast  streams  east  of  the  Parnahyba  are  com 
prised  within  the  limits  of  the  province  of  Ceara,  Piauhy 
has  a  coast  line  of  only  about  twenty  miles,  extending 
from  the  mouth  of  the  Parnahyba  to  the  Barra  do  Igua- 
rassu.  The  base  of  the  country  consists  in  the  south  and 
southeast,  at  least,  of  gneiss  and  other  metamorphic  rocks, 
much  inclined,  but  the  greater  part  of  the  country  is  over 
spread  by  a  thick  sheet  of  sandstone  in  horizontal  strata, 
extending  southward  to  the  edge  of  the  basin. 

This  sheet  of  sandstone  has  been  very  extensively  worn 
away  by  the  rivers,  and  between  them  are  isolated  table- 
topped  hills  or  extensive  chapadas.  Such  is  the  character 

*  The  same  name  is  applied  to  the  bay  on  which  the  principal  seaport  of  the 
province  of  Parana  is  built. 


PROVINCE    OF   PIAUHY.  475 

of  the  country  in  the  vicinity  of  Oeiras,  where  the  sandstone 
is  of  a  reddish  tint,  and  is  sometimes  exposed  in  perpen 
dicular  cliffs.  The  Arraial  de  Sao  Gon^alo  is  situated  at 
the  foot  of  one  of  these  sandstone  hills,  which  is  four  hun 
dred  feet  high.*  The  Serra  da  Topa  is  another  sandstone 
mountain,  the  rocks  being  of  a  white  or  pale  red  color  and 
disposed  in  terraces,  the  top  being  perfectly  flat. 

These  sandstones  lie  on  a  basis  of  metamorpbic  strata, 
which  has  a  gentle  slope  northward  or  northeastward,  and 
just  south  of  the  Lake  Paranagua  they  lap  up  over  these  older 
rocks,  abutting  against  the  Serra  dos  Dous  Irmaos,  reaching, 
according  to  Mr.  St.  John,  a  level  of  about  1,500  feet. 
Westward  they  rise  toward  the  so-called  Serra  de  Ybiapaba. 
The  question  now  is,  whether  they  tie  in  with  the  sandstones 
of  the  Ybiapaba,  and  of  the  Chapadao  da  Mangabeira,  or 
whether  they  are  newer  than  the  sandstones  of  Jacobina 
and  the  Sao  Francisco-Tocantins  divide.  From  all  that  I 
have  been  able  to  learn  I  think  that  they  will  be  found  to 
form  part  of  the  great  sandstone  sheet  of  Minas,  Goyaz, 
<fcc.,  and  that  the  table-topped  hills  of  Piauhy  will  be  found 
to  be  the  exact  equivalents  of  those  of  Santarem,  Monte 
Alegre,  &c.  The  clays  and  sandstones  of  the  lower  grounds 
bordering  the  coast  would  seem  to  belong  to  the  same  series 
as  those  of  the  vicinity  of  Pard. 

The  water-shed  between  the  hydrographical  basins  of  the 
Sao  Francisco  and  the  Parnahyba  is,  according  to  the  testi 
mony  of  Spix  and  Martins,  Gardner,  and  other  travellers,  a 
low,  very  gentle  swelling,  composed  of  gneiss,  mica-schist, 
and  other  similar  rocks,  all  more  or  less  disturbed  and 
denuded  down  very  evenly,  as  is  the  case  with  the  similar 
strata  forming  the  divide  between  the  Sao  Francisco  val- 

*  Alcide  cl'Orbigny,  Voyage  Pittoresque,  149. 


476  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

ley  and  that  of  the  Paraguassu,  and  with  a  gentle  slope  both 
to  the  east  and  west.  This  gneiss  ridge  is  about  1,250  feet 
in  height  where  the  road  from  Oeiras  to  Joazeiro  crosses  it. 

Gardner,  in  describing  the  journey  from  Paranagua,  across 
the  water-shed,  southward  into  the  province  of  Pernam- 
buco,  says  that,  shortly  after  having  passed  the  boundary  of 
the  province  of  Piauhy,  an  elevated  table-land  is  reached 
called  the  Serra  da  Batalha,  which  he  describes  as  being 
covered  oil  its  slopes  with  huge  blocks  of  sandstone,  of  which 
he  supposed  the  serra  to  be  composed.  Two  other  serras 
of  the  same  character  lie  to  the  south,  and  Gardner  supposes 
them  all  to  form  part  of  one  great  range. 

Padre  Cazal,  in  his  Corographia,  says  that  in  some  parts 
the  serra  dividing  Pernambuco  from  Piauhy  has  two  or  three 
leagues  of  chapada  on  top. 

From  Mr.  St.  John's  observations  it  would  appear  that  in 
some  places  the  sandstones  are  completely  removed,  as  is 
the  case  in  Bahia  also. 

That  the  Serra  dos  Dous  Irmaos  should  have  its  capping 
of  sandstone  is  not  wonderful,  when  we  find  the  Serra  da 
Ybiapaba  so  capped  to  a  height  of  over  two  thousand  feet, 
and  when  on  the  highest  land  on  the  Sao  Francisco-Para- 
guassu  divide  we  find  patches  of  the  same  rock,  forming  a 
series  of  chapadas  traceable  southward,  and  tying  in  with 
the  chapadas  of  the  Pardo  and  Jequitinhonha  valleys. 

The  age  of  the  sandstones  of  the  Serra  da  Ybiapaba  and 
the  Serra  de  Araripe,  and  also  of  the  great  sandstone  sheet 
covering  so  large  an  area  in  the  province  of  Piauhy,  remains 
to  be  determined.  Gardner  has  called  them  all  cretaceous. 
Let  us  examine  upon  what  grounds  he  has  based  his  con 
clusion.  The  whole  matter  turns  upon  the  relation  the 
fish-bed  bears  to  the  strata  composing  the  serra.  He  says 


PROVINCE   OF   PIAUHY.  477 

in  his  "Travels"  (p.  202)  that  "the  place  where  these  [fish] 
were  found  was  on  the  slope  of  a  low  hill  about  a  mile  from 
the  serra,"  and  that  the  specimens  all  come  from  loose 
masses,  rounded,  as  he  erroneously  supposed,  by  the  action 
of  water,  and  scattered  over  a  very  limited  surface.  He 
consequently  did  not  see  them  in  place.  Owing  to  his  find 
ing  in  the  immediate  vicinity  pieces  of  sandstone  *  like 
that  which  form  the  serra,  he  arrived  at  the  conclusion  that 
the  fishes  come  from  the  sandstone,  and  that  because  the 
fishes  were  cretaceous,  therefore  the  serra,  and  not  only  the 
serra,  but  all  the  great  extension  of  sandstones  covering  the 
northeastern  shoulder  of  Brazil,  must  be  cretaceous  also,  and 
he  even  went  so  far  as  to  divide  these  rocks  into  a  series  of 
groups,  referring  them  to  European  horizons. 

The  fishes  do  not  occur  in  rolled  masses,  as  Gardner 
says,  but  in  concretions,  as  Mr.  Bowman  has  remarked  in  a 
note  to  Gardner's  paper,  and  as  I  can  also  testify  after  an 
examination  of  specimens  in  my  own  collections.  The 
occurrence  of  these  concretions  on  a  surface  unassociated 
with  other  rock  would  lead  one  to  suspect  that  they  had 
weathered  out  of  some  softer  rock,  and  this  is  confirmed  by 
a  statement  made  by  Pompe'o,  on  the  authority  of  Dr.  The- 
berge,that  the  fossils  are  found  in  "  an  extremely  sticky  clay." 
Theberge  says  that  they  either  occur  in  this  way  or  at  the 
bottoms  of  deep  valleys  in  brooks  whose  bed  is  a  schistose 
limestone,  so  that  we  have  no  evidence  whatever  that  these 
fossils  occur  in  the  sandstones  of  the  serra ;  on  the  contrary, 
they  occur  in  a  band  of  rocks  lying  well  below  the  sand 
stones,  and  bared  in  the  valleys  by  the  denudation  of  the 
sandstones,  so  that  we  may  safely  conclude  that  they  are 

*  In  his  paper  in  the  Phil.  Trans.,  Gardner  says   that   these  were  little 
rounded  sandstones.     In  his  Travels  he  speaks  of  them  as  rounded  blocks. 


478  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

older  than  the  sandstones.*  Gardner  was  misled,  in  the 
first  place,  into  the  belief  that  the  sandstones  were  creta 
ceous  from  finding  rocks  having  some  resemblance  to  flint, 
and  by  mistaking  for  chalk  a  white  tabatinga  clay  on  the 
top  of  the  serra,  dug  by  the  inhabitants  for  use  in  white 
washing.  That  the  cretaceous  rocks  form  an  extensive  series 
underlying  the  sandstones  is  very  probable,  because  Gardner 
speaks  of  a  number  of  localities,  all  of  which  he  describes 
as  being  situated  on  the  declivities  of  low  hills  skirting  the 
base  of  the  serra.  On  the  west  side  of  the  Serra  da  Ybiapaba 
he  found  a  similar  deposit  of  fossil  fishes,  which  would  lead 
one  to  suppose  that  this  serra  was  also  underlaid  by  the 
same  deposit. 

Gardner,  in  his  "  Travels,"  says  that  the  series  of  creta 
ceous  rocks  in  Ceara  and  Piauhy  forming  the  serras,  &c., 
consists  in  descending  order  of — 

1.  White  chalk  with  flints  exposed  in  pits,  and  partially 
overlaid  by  red  diluvial  clay. 

2.  Sandstone  with  ichthyolites,  equivalent  to  the  English 
upper  green  sand. 

3.  A  series  of  marls,  soft  and  compact  limestones,  and 
lignite,  equivalent  to  the  English  gault. 

4.  A  ferruginous  sandstone   deposit,  equivalent  to  the 
lower  green  sand  or  Shanklin  sands. 

Now,  of  this  series,  the  white  "chalk"  is  a  Tabatinga 
clay.  There  is  no  evidence  that  it  contains  flints,  and 
he  himself  says  that  he  found  none  in  any  of  the  "  chalk 
pits"  he  examined.  In  the  second  place,  there  is  no  evi 
dence  that  the  fossil  fishes  occur  in  the  sandstones,  and  if 

*  In  a  paper  read  at  the  Salem  meeting  of  the  American  Association,  I  ven 
tured  to  state  my  strong  suspicion  that  the  beds  affording  the  fishes  would  turn 
out  to  be  disturbed  and  inclined,  like  the  other  cretacean  beds  in  Eastern  Brazil, 
when  Professor  Agassiz  remarked  that  this  had  been  reported  by  Dr.  Coutinho. 


PROVINCE   OF   PIAUHY.  479 

they  did  they  would  not  prove  the  deposit  to  be  upper  green 
sand,  since  Professor  Agassiz  has  called  attention  to  the 
resemblance  borne  by  Aspidorhynchus  Comptoni  and  Lepi- 
dotus  temnurus  to  allied  species  of  the  chalk  of  Kent.  So 
far  as  the  third  and  fourth  series  are  concerned,  Gardner 
found  no  fossils  in  them,  and  their  cretaceous  age  is  im 
proved.  Pompe'o,  with  Capanema  most  probably  as  author 
ity,  gives  the  following  as  the  succession  of  rocks  in  the 
serra  of  Araripe  :  — 

The  uppermost  beds,  A,  consist  of  beds  of  Psamenito, 
sandstone  of  a  reddish  color,  with  bluish,  sometimes  black 
nodules.  Below  these  comes  a  bed,  B,  of  an  exceedingly 
foliated  limestone,  under  which  lies  a  bed,  C,  of  black 
clay  (?),  (Taua),  with  layers,  a  palm  in  thickness,  of  a 
bluish  and  very  hard  sandstone,  containing  veins  of  pyrites 
and  galena  (?),  or  with  a  very  bituminous  schist  containing 
the  same  sulphides  and  spherical  nodules.  This  is  in  turn 
underlaid  by  a  series  of  sandstones,  D,  less  argillaceous  in 
character.  In  a  sandstone  similar  to  this  occurring  at  St. 
Pedro,  Dr.  Gongalves  Dias  found  fossil  wood. 

Of  this  series,  A  corresponds  to  No.  2*  of  Gardner's 
series,  B  and  C  to  No.  3,  while  the  lowest  sandstones  of  his 
series  may  or  may  not  correspond  to  D. 

Both  of  the  above  sections  appear  to  have  been  made  in 
the  Serra  de  Araripe,  near  Crato.  Gardner  says  he  saw  no 
limestone  in  situ  at  Jardim. 

That  these  horizontal  strata,  and  especially  the  sand 
stones,  have  anciently  had  an  immense  extension  over  the 
surface  of  Cear£  there  cannot  be  the  least  doubt,  as  Dr. 
Capanema  has  remarked,  for  the  sandstones  are  often 

*  Gardner  numbers  the  beds  from  below  upwards  ;  accordingly  this  would 
correspond  to  his  No.  3. 


480  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

found  capping  isolated  hills,  at  a  long  distance  from  the 
serra.  Indeed,  there  seems  every  reason  to  believe  that  the 
provinces  of  Ceard  and  Piauhy  were  covered  with  it  even 
beyond  the  coast  line.  It  has  been  swept  away  very  largely 
from  the  coast  and  the  basin  of  the  Jaguaribe  almost  to 
Crato. 

The  upper  part  of  the  Serra  da  Ybiapaba  for  apparently 
its  whole  length  is  composed  of  the  sandstone,  and  the 
plateau  of  Apodi  seems  to  be  formed  in  part  of  it.  It  is 
true  that  where  Spix  and  Martius  crossed  the  Serra  dos 
Dons  Irmaos  they  found,  up  to  the  highest  point  of  the 
pass,  1,250  feet,  only  metamorphic  rocks ;  but  they  found 
overlying  these  rocks  thick  beds  of  laminated  clay  (scliiefer- 
thon),  and  they  report  the  Serra  da  Topa  as  composed  of 
Quadersandstein.  Mr.  St.  John  did  not  meet  with  the 
sandstones,  but  Gardner  did  in  crossing  the  Serra  da 
Batalha,  and  he  describes  the  top  as  a  flat  chapada.  The 
Chapada  de  Sta.  Maria,  lying  between  the  Sao  Francisco 
and  the  eastern  branch  of  the  Tocantins,  is  another  dead- 
level  table -land  composed  of  sandstone,  south  of  which 
comes  the  great  Chapadao  de  Urucuia,  evidently  only  the 
prolongation  of  the  Chapadao  de  Sta.'  Maria.  On  the  oppo 
site  or  southern  side  of  the  valley  of  the  Urucuia  we  see 
the  chapadas  once  more. 

In  the  southern  part  of  Minas,  as  already  remarked,  there 
are  the  chapadas  between  Piumhy  and  Passos  on  the  Rio 
Grande,  east  of  which  is  the  immense  Chapadao  de  Taba- 
tinga,  some  two  hundred  miles  in  length,  between  the  two 
branches  of  the  Parana,  the  Paranahyba,  and  Rio  Grande. 
Then  we  have  the  elevated  plains  of  the  provinces  of  Sao 
Paulo  and  Parana,  composed  in  great  part  of  argillaceous 
sandstones.  The  valley  of  the  Sao  Francisco  to  the  Cacho- 


PROVINCE   OF  PIAUHY.  481 

eira  de  Paulo  Affonso  is  filled  with  horizontal  deposits,  calca 
reous  in  the  upper  part  of  the  valley,  silicious  and  calcareous 
in  the  lower  part.  East  of  the  valley  of  the  Sao  Francisco 
we  find  the  hills  of  the  water-shed  between  the  Sao  Francisco 
basin  and  the  streams  flowing  eastward  into  the  Atlantic 
capped  here  and  there  with  horizontal  deposits,  worn  away  on 
every  side ;  the  basins  of  the  Rios  Pardo  and  Jequitinhonha 
are  filled  with  these  beds,  and  everywhere  they  rise  to  a  very 
uniform  height  over  the  country,  —  a  height  of  2,000  to  3,000 
feet  above  the  sea.  Westward  we  know  that  an  immense 
tract  of  country  in  the  province  of  Matto  Grosso  and  the 
Amazonas  is  covered  in  like  manner  with  similar  deposits. 
All  these  facts  speak  of  a  very  uniform  submergence  of  the 
whole  country  to  a  depth  of  at  least  2,000  or  3,000  feet 
below  the  present  sea  level,  during  which  the  valleys  were 
filled  up  with  beds  of  clays,  sandstones  more  or  less  argil 
laceous,  limestones,  &c.,  to  a  greater  or  less  height.  These 
deposits  appear  in  great  part  to  have  been  rapidly  formed 
in  the  bottom  of  a  muddy  sea,  the  material  being  derived 
from  the  decomposed  rock  crust  covering  the  country. 

The  fossil  fishes,  according  to  Agassiz,  resemble  those 
of  the  European  senonien,  so  that  if  the  sandstones  are 
cretaceous  they  must  belong  to  the  very  uppermost  di 
vision  of  that  formation.  We  have  seen  how  this  same 
great  formation  extends  over  almost  the  whole  Empire,  but 
nowhere  that  I  have  heard  of  aifording  a  single  fossil.  But 
on  the  coast  outside  the  edge  of  the  plateau,  lying  on 
the  extension  of  the  gneiss  basis,  we  have,  beginning  at  the 
Abrolhos  and  extending  northward  through  Bahia,  Sergipe, 
Pernambuco,  and  Parahyba,  a  great  series  of  cretaceous 
rocks  belonging  to  different  epochs  in  that  period.  Wher 
ever  I.  have  seen  them  they  are  always  disturbed,  while 

VOL.    I.  21  EE 


482  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

they  moreover  form  border  deposits  abruptly  abutting  the 
edge  of  the  plateau,  showing  that  the  plateau  was  out  of 
water  when  they  were  deposited.  These  cretaceous  beds 
are  compact  sandstones,  shales,  limestones,  conglomer 
ates,  &c. 

The  beds  of  the  great  sandstone  formation  approach  the 
coast  in  very  many  places,  as  on  the  Rio  de  Sao  Francisco, 
where  they  make  their  appearance  near  the  Cachoeira  de 
Paulo  Affonso.  But  they  are  everywhere  horizontal,  and  are 
nowhere  disturbed  by  the  foldings  which  tilted  the  beds  of 
the  cretaceous  a  few  leagues  to  the  east.  But  the  cretaceous 
beds  of  the  coast  are  overlaid  by  a  series  of  clays,  sandstones, 
&c.,  which,  though  strictly  a  coast  formation,  bears  in  litho- 
logical  character  a  very  close  resemblance  to  the  great  sand 
stone  sheet  of  the  interior.  This  latter,  which  is  overlaid  by 
the  drift  I  have  referred,  as  already  stated  elsewhere,  to  the 
tertiary ;  but  this  coast  formation  is,  I  think,  without  doubt, 
younger  than  the  similar  formation  of  the  interior,  so  that 
the  latter  must  be  either  upper  cretaceous  or  tertiary,  and 
I  must  give  it  as  my  firm  conviction  that  it  will  be  found 
to  be  the  latter. 

As  to  the  occurrence  of  drift  in  the  province  of  Piauhy, 
I  have  no  information  whatever. 

I  know  of  no  workable  mines,  though  gold  is  said  to  occur 
at  Olho  d'Agua,  near  Oeiras. 

The  climate  of  Piauhy  is  hot  and,  according  to  Pompe'o, 
rather  damp.  It  is  apt  to  be  very  prejudicial  to  foreigners, 
especially  in  the  low  grounds  along  the  banks  of  the  Par- 
nahyba,  Poty,  and  other  streams,  where  intermittent  fevers 
are  prevalent. 

The  inhabitants  make  a  distinction  between  the  vegeta 
tion  of  the  eastern  part  of  the  province  and  the  central  and 


PROVINCE   OF   PIAUHY.  483 

western  part.  That  of  the  former  region  is  called  mimosa, 
and  is  characterized  by  catinga  forests,  while  its  plants  are 
furnished  with  an  abundance  of  hairs  and  prickles,  stiff 
leaves,  small  flowers,  a  very  tender  fibre,  and  very  often  a 
milky  juice.  Gardner  says  that  the  grasses  of  the  mimoso 
pastures  are  annuals,  their  color  is  a  brighter  green,  and 
they  have  more  pliant  leaves  than  those  of  the  agrestes. 
Spix  and  Martius  give  a  long  list  of  grasses  which  are 
characteristic  of  the  campos  mimosos. 

The  campos  agrestes  of  Lower  Piauhy  consist  in  part  of 
woods,  in  part  of  quite  open  plains.  The  trees  are,  accord 
ing  to  Gardner,  almost  all  deciduous,  and  many  are  gnarled 
and  stunted.  Swamps  are  not  infrequent  and  support 
clumps  of  Buriti  palms.  The  grasses  of  the  open  plains 
are  coarse  and  perennial. 

The  rains  begin  in  October  and  last  until  April,  heavy 
thunder-storms  prevailing  during  that  season. 

The  principal  industry  of  the  province  consists  in  the 
raising  of  cattle,  and  agriculture  is  pursued  only  to  a  small 
extent. 

The  population  amounts  to  about  250,000,  of  whom  about 
30,000  are  slaves.  The  capital  is  Theresina,  which  has 
about  6,000  inhabitants.  The  other  cities  are  Oeiras  and 
Parnahyba.  The  latter  is  particularly  unhealthy. 


484  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

THE   PROVINCES   OF   MARANHlO,   PARA,   AND  AMAZONAS.* 

Sandstones  of  the  Coast  of  Maranhao.  —  The  Interior  composed  of  Metamorphic 
Rocks.  —  Gold-Mines  of  Tun  and  Maracassume.  —  Climate  of  the  Province. 
—  Rains.  —  Cities  of  Maranhao,  Caxias,  &c.  —  Pororoca  or  Bore  at  the 
Mouth  of  the  River  Mearim.  —  Professor  Agassiz's  Sketch  of  the  Geology, 
of  the  Amazonian  Valley.  —  His  Theory  of  the  Mode  of  Deposition  of  the 
Amazonian  Beds.  —  Discussion  of  this  Question.  —  Cretaceous  Rocks  in  the 
AmazoHian  Valley. 

THE  coast  of  the  Province  of  Maranhao  is  low  and  flat, 
and  consists  of  a  tertiary  ferruginous  sandstone  passing 
into  conglomerate,  and  overlaid,  as  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
port  of  Maranhao,  by  a  series  of  sandstones  and  clays. 
Gardner,  apparently  on  the  principle  that  all  sandstones 
must  be  cretaceous,  refers  this  series  to  that  formation, 
while  Spix  and  Martius,  as  usual,  call  the  rock  Quader- 
sandstein.  The  sandstones  and  associated  rocks  form  a 
line  of  high  red  cliffs  along  the  shore  of  the  island  on 
which  Maranhao  is  built,  just  north  of  the  city,  east  of 
point  Sao  Marcos.  On  the  mainland  west  of  the  channel  a 
similar  line  of  cliffs  stretches  from  the  village  of  Alcantara 
to  the  curious  landmark,  Mount  Itacolumi.  The  same  rocks 
extend  far  up  the  valley  of  the  Itapicuru,  on  the  banks  of 

*  That  this  name  was  given  in  commemoration  of  the  supposed  tribe  of 
female  warriors  described  by  Orellana  there  cannot  be  the  slightest  doubt. 
The  attempt  to  derive  it  from  amassona,  a  word  not  to  be  found  in  the  Portu 
guese  dictionary,  falls  into  the  same  category  as  the  derivation  of  Maranhao  from 
mar  on  nao  ?  or  Alexander  the  Great  from  all  etjtjs  under  the  grate  !  It  is  not  the 
Rio  Amazonas,  but  the  Rio  das  Amazonas,  the  river  of  the  Amazons. 


PROVINCES   OF   MARANHAO,   PARA,   AND   AMAZONAS.       485 

which  at  Mangue  Alto  they  were  observed  by  Spix  and  Mar- 
tius  to  lie  on  granite  containing  pistacite,  and  at  Cachoeira 
this  rock  passed  into  a  syenitic  form. 

Mr.  St.  John,  who  descended  the  Itapicuru  and  made 
a  considerable  stay  at  Maranhao,  will  doubtless,  in  his  re 
port  on  the  geology  of  the  country,  furnish  us  with  valua 
ble  information  concerning  the  character  and  extent  of  the 
sandstone  deposits. 

In  the  south  and  west  the  country  is  higher,  more  un 
equal,  and  very  largely  composed  of  ancient  metamorphic 
rocks. 

Gold  occurs  in  the  province,  and  is  or  has  been  worked 
by  a  mining  company ;  but  I  have  been  unable  to  obtain 
facts  bearing  upon  the  nature  of  the  deposits  or  their  yield. 
The  two  principal  mines  are  those  of  Turi  and  Mara- 
cassume'. 

The  climate  of  Maranhao,  —  situated  as  the  country  is  on 
the  edge  of  the  great  Amazonian  valley,  of  which  we  are  told 
by  Professor  Agassiz  it  anciently  formed  a  part,  —  has  the 
same  general  character  as  that  which  prevails  on  the  Ama- 
zonas,  being  hot  and  damp ;  the  greatest  heat  is  about  81° 
Cent.,  97.8°  Fahr.,  and  the  lowest  21°  Cent.,  69.8°  Fahr. 
(Pompeo.)  "  The  rains  begin  with  great  regularity  at  the 
end  of  December,  although  from  October  on  showers  occur, 
commonly  called  the  c/iuvas  de  cajd  [the  cashew-rains]. 
The  rains  arc  very  abundant,  and  accompanied  by  much 
thunder  and  lightning,  becoming  more  frequent  and  heavy 
in  May,  the  end  of  the  winter  season."  *  From  June  to 
December  the  winds  called  ventos  g-eraes  blow  steadily  from 
the  northeast  or  east-northeast  during  the  day,  and  during 
the  night-time  from  the  east. 

*  Pompeo,  Geographia,  p,  391. 


486  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

The  climate,  except  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Paranahyba 
River,  is  said  to  be  quite  healthy. 

A  great  part  of  the  country  is  heavily  wooded  with  the 
virgin  forest,  but  in  the  interior  there  are  some  extensive 
campos  and  alluvial  flats  often  inundated  during  the  rainy 
season.  The  principal  products  of  the  country  consist  of 
rice  and  cotton,  although  a  little  coffee  is  planted.  A 
large  number  of  cattle  are  raised. 

The  population  of  the  province  amounts  to  about  390,000 
inhabitants. 

The  capital  is  Maranhao,  a  beautiful  city  of  35,000  inhab 
itants,  built  on  an  island  lying  off  the  mouth  of  the  Itapi- 
curu  River.  Alcantara  is  another  considerable  town  sit 
uated  on  the  mainland  opposite  the  capital,  and  in  the 
midst  of  a  region  noted  for  producing  a  most  excellent 
quality  of  cotton. 

The  city  of  Caxias,  on  the  navigable  river  Itapicuru, 
about  three  hundred  miles  from  Maranhao,  is  a  large  town, 
the  centre  of  an  important  trade  with  the  interior.  Caro 
lina,  on  the  Tocantins,  is  a  town  of  but  little  importance. 

About  twelve  leagues  west  of  the  capital  of  the  province 
is  the  mouth  of  the  river  Mearim  or  Meary.  This  river  has 
so  strong  a  current,  and  its  channel  is  so  shaped,  that  it  causes 
the  tide  to  enter  with  a  bore.  Cazal  says  that  the  river 
suspends  for  a  long  time  the  rise  of  the  tide,  then  it  comes 
in  with  great  fury,  rising  in  a  quarter  of  an  hour  the  dis 
tance  it  had  taken  nearly  nine  hours  to  fall,  and  then 
running  for  three  hours  with  the  rapidity  of  a  mill-race.f 

*  The  river  is  navigated  by  steam. 

t  Speaking  of  this  river,  Cazal  says  :  "  Sen  alvo  he  profnndo,  e  largo ;  e  sua 
correntc  tito  rapida,  que  suspende  a  enchente  da  marc  por  largo  tempo  ;  result- 
ando  desta  opposirao  ondus  jcncapelladas,  chamudas  pororticas,  que  depois  de 


PROVINCES   OF   MARANHAO,   PARA,   AND   AMAZONAS.       487 

It  will  be  remembered  that  a  similar  phenomenon  is  wit 
nessed  at  the  mouth  of  the  Amazonas,  and  in  the  vicinity  of 
Para,  where,  as  in  Maranhao,  the  bore  is  called  pororoca. 

Professor  Agassiz  has  treated  so  largely  of  the  physical 
geography  of  the  provinces  of  Par&  and  Amazonas,  or  the 
Amazonian  valley,  in  the  "  Journey  in  Brazil,"  that  it  is  not 
necessary  for  me  to  repeat  here  any  of  his  conclusions ; 
besides,  the  limits  of  this  volume  forbid  that  I  should  at 
this  time  enter  upon  the  discussion  of  so  fruitful  a  subject. 
I  shall  therefore  confine  myself,  so  far  as  the  Amazonas 
is  concerned,  to  a  very  condensed  statement  of  Professor 
Agassiz's  views  with  reference  to  the  origin  and  strati 
graphy  of  the  various  formations  which  occupy  the  Ama 
zonian  valley,  and  with  a  few  remarks  thereupon  ;  this  seems 
necessary  in  order  to  complete  my  sketch  of  the  Geology  of 
Brazil.  In  the  Bulletin  de  la  Societe  Greologique  de  France 
(2me  S^rie,  T.  25,  p.  685)  is  a  short  article  on  the  Geology 
of  the  Amazonian  valley,  by  Professor  Agassiz  and  Dr.  Cou- 
tinho,  presented  by  Professor  Jules  Marcou,  which  gives 
Professor  Agassiz's  views  with  great  conciseness  and  clear 
ness  ;  and  as  it  is  not  accessible  to  general  readers,  I  have 
reproduced  the  most  important  part  of  it  here,  together 
with  the  section  accompanying  it. 

Professor  Marcou  says :  — 

"  Mr.  Agassiz  thinks  that  the  whole  valley  of  the  Amazonas  was 
formed  at  the  end  of  the  cretaceous  period,  which  has  left  traces 
of  deposits  in  the  province  of  Ceara  and  on  the  Upper  Purus.  Here 

vencidas,  tudo  quanto  vazou  cm  quazi  nove  horas,  cnche  era  menos  d'hum 
quarto ;  ficando  a  mare  caminhando  para  cima  tres  horas  completas  com  uma 
rapidez  semclhante  a  calha  d'hum  moinho.  Este  fenomeno  occupa  o  espaco  de 
cinco  leguas  com  grande  roido.  Ha  sitios,  denominados  esperas,  onde  as  canoas 
esperao  a  decizao  do  combate,  e  continuao  a  viagem  sem  perigo." —  Cor.  Braz., 
Tom.  II.  p.  260. 


488  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

and  there,  whether  by  denudations  or  by  anterior  dislocations, 
one  sees  more  ancient  rocks.  Thus  Major  Coutinho  has  found 
palaeozoic  brachiopods  in  a  rock  which  forms  the  first  cascade  of  the 
Tapajos  ;  carboniferous  fossils  have  been  collected  on  the  banks  of 
the  rivers  Guapore  and  Marnore",  in  Matto  Grosso ;  and  finally,  at 
Manaos,  Coutinho  has  recognized  slates  or  phyllades  in  a  very  in 
clined  position,  and  beneath  the  formations  of  red  sandstone  of  the 
Amazonian  valley." 

Professor  Agassiz  supposed  that  during  the  tertiary  the 
Amazonian  region  was  above  water,  and  that  the  sandstones 
and  clays  that  now  fill  it  are  drift. 

The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  ideal  section  of  these  later 
deposits  by  Professor  Agassiz,  forming  a  resumS  of  the  ob 
servations  of  M.  Coutinho  and  himself :  - 

"  I.  Coarse  sands  (Sable  grossier)  forming  the  base  of  the  drift 
throughout  where  the  level  of  the  water  has  uncovered  the  lower 
beds  of  plastic  clays. 

"  II.  The  streaked  plastic  clay  (Argile  plastique  bigarree)  shows 
itself  on  a  large  scale  along  the  sea-coast  at  Para,  at  the  Island  of 
Marajo,  Maranhao,  and  here  and  there  in  the  hollows  along  the 
course  of  the  Amazonas. 

"  III.  Foliated  clay  in  very  thin  beds,  with  frequent  indications 
of  cleavage.  This  deposit  appears  to  be  more  considerable  in  the 
banks  along  the  course  of  the  Rio  Solimoes  than  in  the  lower  part 
of  the  Amazonas.  It  is  in  these  beds  at  Tonantins,  on  the  Rio 
Solimoes,  that  M.  Agassiz  has  found  leaves  of  dicotyledonous 
plants,  which  appear  to  be  identical  with  species  at  present  living 
in  the  valley  of  the  Amazons.* 

*  These  leaves  occur  in  a  fine,  soft  gray  clay,  resembling  very  closely  the 
recent  alluvial  clays  of  the  Brazilian  rivers.  They  are  excellently  preserved. 
The  leaf  is  partly  carbonized,  but  it  curls  up  from  the  surface  on  drying,  and 
may  be  detached,  leaving  a  beautiful  impression  of  the  venation,  &c. 


PROVINCES    OF    MARANHAO,   PARA,   AND   AMAZONAS.       489 


"  IV.    A  crust  of  sandy  clay,  very  hard,  moulded  in  the  inequali 
ties  of  the  foliated  clay. 

"  V.,  VI.,  VII.,  VIIL,  and  IX.  Sandstone 
formation,  sometimes  regularly  stratified  and 
compact,  especially  in  the  lower  beds  (V.), 
such  as  one  sees  on  the  borders  of  the 

igaraph  of  Manaos ;    sometimes   cavernous    $ 

s 
and  intermixed  with  irregular  masses  of  clay    3 

J     k v 

(VI.),  especially  well  developed  at  Villa  Bella    ^      " 

and  at  Manaos  ;  at  others  all  the  characters 
of  a  torrential  stratification  (VII.,  VIII.,  and 
IX.).  The  deposits  of  this  last  nature  are 
only  seen  in  the  elevated  hills  of  Almeirim, 
Erere,  and  Cupati,  and  in  the  most  elevated 
cliffs  of  the  borders  of  the  river,  as  at  Tonan- 
tins,  Tabatinga,  Sao  Paulo,  and  on  the  bor 
ders  of  the  Rio  Negro. 

"  X.  The  argilo-arenaceous,  unstratified 
drift,  occupying  all  the  inequalities  of  the 
soil  resulting  from  the  denudation  of  the 
sandstone  with  torrential  stratification.  It 
is  in  this  drift  that  MM.  Agassiz  and  Cou-  M 

tinho  have  found  true  erratic  blocks  of  dio. 

M 

rite,  of  a  metre  in  diameter,  at  Erere.     This  * 

formation  is  never  met   with  on  the    cliffs  ! 

elevated  several  hundreds  of  feet  in  height. 
There  is  not  a  trace  of  it  on  the  summit  of 
the  hills  of  Erere. 

"  The  fact  that  the  coarse  sand,  No.  L,  ap 
pears  throughout  at  the  level  of  low  water, 
that  it  follows  the  general  slope  of  the  val 
ley,  shows  incontestably  that  the  deposition 
of  this  formation  does  not  reach  back  to  an 
epoch  anterior  to  the  excavation  of  the  val- 
21* 


490  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

ley  itself.  The  total  thickness  of  the  Amazonian  drift  does  not 
exceed  three  hundred  metres ;  it  covers  the  whole  basin  of  the 
Amazonas,  from  the  Andes  of  Peru  and  Bolivia  to  Cape  Sao  Roque  ; 
or,  in  other  words,  it  is  the  most  colossal  drift  formation  known." 

Professor  Agassiz  believes  that  the  beds  I.,  II.,  III.,  IY., 
or  the  coarse  sands  and  clays,  were  deposited  in  a  lake  or 
sheet  of  fresh  water  occupying  the  valley  of  the  Amazonas, 
and  sustaining  on  its  surface  a  glacier,  descending  eastward 
from  the  Andes,  and  furnished  with  a  gigantic  moraine  in 
front  stretching  across  the  mouth  of  the  valley  and  convert 
ing  it  into  an  inland  fresh-water  lake.  After  the  ice  had 
broken  up  and  become  more  or  less  disintegrated,  and  the 
waters  of  the  lake  had  swollen,  the  sandstone  formation  V., 
VI. ,  VII.,  VIII.,  IX.  was  laid  down,  then  the  barrier  was 
burst ;  the  waters  of  the  lake,  suddenly  released,  furrowed 
and  wore  down  the  sandstone  beds,  sweeping  them  entirely 
away  over  an  immense  area,  leaving  only  isolated  hills,  like 
those  of  Erere",  Obydos,  Cupati,  Almeyrim,  &c.,  standing  as 
remnants  of  the  once  universal  sandstone  sheet.  After  this 
period  of  turbulence  and  denudation  came  on  an  epoch 
of  quiet,  and  in  the  bottom  of  the  diminished  lake  the 
clays,  No.  X.,  were  deposited,  while  ice-rafts  floating  on 
its  surface  dropped  here  and  there  boulders,  to  be  buried 
in  the  accumulating  material.  Then  the  moraine  was  de 
stroyed  ;  the  drainage  of  the  waters  furrowed  deeply  these 
clays,  and  even  cut  through  them  into  the  sandstone  below, 
in  which  the  various  channels  of  the  system  of  the  Ama 
zonas  are  excavated.  Professor  Agassiz  believes  that  the 
great  barrier  stretched  across  the  Amazonian  valley  far  east 
ward  of  its  present  extremity,  and  he  has  called  attention 
to  the  similarity  between  the  formations  found  spread  over 
the  coast  of  Maranhao  and  Piauhy  and  the  Amazonian  for- 


PROVINCES   OF   MARAXHAO,   PARA,   AND   AMAZONAS.       491 

mations  here  described,  showing  conclusively  that  these  de 
posits  were  once  continuous.  It  is  his  belief  that  the  Ama 
zonian  formation  formerly  extended  a  hundred  leagues  out 
to  sea  beyond  the  present  mouth  of  the  Amazonas.  There 
can  be  no  doubt  that  there  is  a  rapid  waste  of  land  going  on 
along  the  sea-shores  of  the  mouth  of  the  Amazonas  and  of 
the  coast  eastward  for  a  long  distance, —  a  waste  amounting 
to  even  so  much  as  two  hundred  yards  in  ten  years  in  the  bay 
of  Braganza,  or  a  mile  in  twenty,  as  on  the  coast  near  Vigia, 
where  an  island  a  mile  wide  disappeared  in  that  time.* 

I  have  three  times  visited  Para,  and  have  had  an  opportu 
nity  of  seeing  something  of  the  Amazonian  formation.  The 
rock  underlying  the  town,  and  exposed  at  ordinary  low- 
water  level  at  the  base  of  the  bluff  under  the  fort,  is  a 
coarse  dark-red  sandstone  with  an  abundant  cement  of 
iron  oxide,  and  precisely  like  the  red  sandstone  I  have  so 
often  described  as  occupying  a  similar  level  and  under 
lying  the  tertiary  clays  of  the  coast  of  Rio,  Espirito  Santo, 
&c.  Over  this  sandstone  is  a  considerable  bed  of  red,  white, 
and  particolored  felspathic  clays,  with  a  greater  or  less 
admixture  of  sand,  which  clays  present  exactly  the  same 
appearance  and  level  as  the  tertiary  clays  of  the  provinces 
just  referred  to. 

Before  I  knew  anything  of  the  conclusions  of  Professor 
Agassiz  as  to  the  age  of  the  Amazonian  deposits,  I  had  sat 
isfied  myself  that  the  clays  and  sandstones  extending  along 
the  whole  eastern  coast  of  Brazil,  from  the  Bay  of  Rio  to 

*  Since  the  tertiary,  at  least,  and  I  believe  for  the  greater  part  since  the  drift, 
the  whole  eastern  Brazilian  coast  has  suffered  denudation  by  the  sea  to  an 
immense  amount,  and  a  very  wide  sti'ip  of  tertiary  rocks  has  been  removed. 
I  believe  that  these  deposits  once  extended  beyond  the  Abrolhos,  and  that  south 
of  Cape  Roque  the  sea  has  cut  them  away  for  a  mean  width  of  fifty  miles  or 
more. 


492  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

the  Amazonas,  were  older  than  the  drift  clays  which  over 
spread  them ;  and  as  they  are  stratified  deposits  on  an  open 
coast,  there  can  be  no  doubt  of  their  marine  origin.  At  first, 
misled  by  what  I  had  read  of  the  geology  of  Brazil,  as  well 
as  by  the  strong  resemblance  the  sandstones  bore  to  the 
new  red  sandstones  of  the  Basin  of  Minas  in  Nova  Scotia, 
with  which  I  have  been  familiar  since  my  boyhood,  I  was 
disposed  to  regard  the  Brazilian  formation  in  question  as 
triassic  ;  but  I  soon  found  that  it  was  underlaid  unconform- 
ably  by  cretaceous  rocks  in  Bahia,  and  I  came  to  the  only 
conclusion  possible,  —  that  it  was  older  than  the  drift  and 
newer  than  the  cretaceous.  I  can  see  no  reason,  therefore, 
for  considering  the  coast  beds  as  anything  but  tertiary, 
though  they  may  be,  and  probably  are,  very  late  tertiary. 
I  have  attempted  no  comparison  between  these  beds  and  the 
tertiary  beds  of  the  pampas,  because,  in  the  absence  of 
fossils,  and  having  never  seen  the  pampian  tertiaries  and 
post-tertiaries,  I  have  nothing  to  aid  me  in  instituting  such 
a  comparison.  It  has  seemed  to  me  that  the  fact  of  the 
occurrence  on  an  open  sea-coast  of  clays  and  sandstones 
precisely  similar  to  those  occupying  the  lower  plains  of  the 
Amazonas,  as  at  Para,  and  in  fact  tying  in  with  them,  re 
lieves  one  of  the  necessity  of  looking  to  a  fresh-water  origin 
for  the  Amazonian  beds. 

There  cannot  be  the  slightest  doubt  that  the  beds  forming 
the  mountains  of  Ercrd,  Almeyrim,  once  covered  the  whole 
valley,  and  have  been  enormously  denuded.  I  should  never 
have  doubted  whether  the  red  sandstones  at  Para  really 
belonged  to  the  series  of  beds  forming  the  Monte  Alegre- 
Ererd  hills,  if  I  had  not  found  along  the  coast  of  Espirito 
Santo  the  same  sandstones  with  precisely  similar  overlying 
clays,  with  no  table-topped  hills  piercing  them  as  at  Ererd. 


PROVINCES   OF   MARAXHAO,   PARA,    AXD    AMAZONAS. 

Only  once  have  I  seen  what  I  thought  to  be  a  table-topped 
hill  standing  on  the  coast  tertiary  plain.  That  was  on  the 
coast  south  of  Rio  de  Contas,  the  observation  was  a  doubt 
ful  one,  and  I  have  felt  more  like  instituting  a  compari 
son  between  the  chapadas  on  the  Amnzonas  and  those  of 
Ybiapaba  and  Minas  Novas ;  or,  in  other  words,  I  am  dis 
posed  to  regard  the  chapadas  of  Erere"  as  the  outliers  of  the 
great  tertiary  sheet  that  once  covered  the  great  Brazilian 
plateau,  and  now  lies  unbroken  over  such  an  immense 
extent  in  the  province  of  Matto  Grosso.  According  to  the 
observations  of  Dr.  R.  P.  Stevens  and  others,  the  plateau 
of  Guyana  is  covered  by  an  extension  of  the  same  great 
sheet,  while  the  valley  of  the  Orinoco  is  occupied  with 
clays  precisely  similar  to  those  of  the  valley  of  the  Ama- 
zonas.* 

It  is  with  much  hesitation  that  I  express  an  opinion  at 
variance  with  so  distinguished  an  authority  as  Professor 
Agassiz ;  but  the  facts  have  seemed  to  need  a  different 
interpretation  from  that  which  he  has  given  them.  My 
conclusions,  after  all,  do  not  affect  his  theory  of  the  former 
existence  of  glaciers  under  the  tropics,  down  to  the  present 
level  of  the  sea,  —  a  theory  which  I  hold  as  firmly  as  he.f 

*  Professor  Orton  found  west  of  Tabatinga  tertiary  shells  in  beds  which  he 
considers  to  be  a  part  of  the  Amazonian  formation.  These  fossils  were  de 
scribed  by  Professor  Gabb  in  the  Journal  of  Concltology.  The  species  are  Neritina 
pupa,  Turbonella  minnscula,  Messalia  Ortoni,  Tellina  Amazonensis,  Pachyilon  ob- 
liqna,  and  P.  tenua.  It  is  much  to  be  regretted  that  Professor  Orton  has  not 
given  a  description  of  the  locality  where  these  fossils  are  found,  and  of  their 
mode  of  occurrence. 

t  I  have  confined  myself  in  this  chapter  to  a  short  discussion  of  the  question 
of  the  age  of  the  Amazonian  sandstones,  and  I  have  attempted  to  give  no  de 
scription  of  the  great  river  and  its  wonders.  I  would  refer  the  reader  desirous 
of  knowing  more  cf  the  Amazonas  to  the  "  Journey  in  Brazil." 

It  is  indeed  surprising  that  after  several  hundred  volumes,  classic  in  science, 


494  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL    GEOGRAPHY. 

Professor  Agassiz  has  called  attention  to  the  fossils  from 
cretaceous  beds  discovered  by  Mr.  Chandless  on  the  river 
Aquiry,  one  of  the  affluents  of  the  Purus.  These  beds  con 
sist  of  hardened  clay  and  "pseudo-conglomerate,"*  —  the 
latter  being  a  sort  of  clay  rock  full  of  concretions,  which 
give  to  the  formation  the  appearance  of  a  conglomerate. 
Associated  with  it  is  a  sandstone.  The  fossils  are  said  by 
Mr.  Chandless  to  be  very  abundant,  and,  according,  I  believe, 
to  the  determination  of  Professor  Agassiz,  they  consist  of 
the  bones  of  Mosasauri  f  and  turtles,  together  with  fossil 
wood.  These  remains  appear  to  be  principally  confined  to 
the  clays  and  "  pseudo-conglomerate." 

Professor  Agassiz  regards  these  fossils  as  indicating  a 
horizon  like  that  of  the  Maastricht  beds  in  Europe  (J^lae- 
striclitien^  —  upper  chalk).  Judging  from  the  description  of 

have  been  written  on  Brazil,  and  some  scores  of  works  have  been  published  on 
the  Amazonas,  by  such  writers  as  De  la  Condamine,  Humbolclt,  Spix  and  Mar- 
tius,  Prince  Adelbert,  Bates,  Wallace,  Agassiz,  and  a  host  of  others  of  greater 
or  less  note,  the  idea  should  be  so  generally  prevalent  that  the  country  is  unex 
plored,  a  perfect  terra  incognita,  and  that  every  year  or  two  some  traveller  never 
before  heard  of  should  astonish  himself,  if  not  the  world,  by  rediscovering  the 
river.  Perhaps  after  spending  a  month  on  its  waters,  the  greater  part  of  which 
is  consumed  on  board  his  canoe  or  the  steamer,  he  writes  a  book,  or  at  least  a 
magazine  article  or  two  !  Few  countries  have  suffered  more  in  America  at  the 
hands  of  superficial  travellers  and  writers  than  Brazil.  I  would  especially 
recommend  to  the  attention  of  my  readers  the  excellent  little  book  by  Mr. 
Bates,  "  The  Naturalist  on  the  Amazonas."  Its  author  is  a  good  naturalist, 
and  his  eleven  years  of  residence  in  the  country  have  enabled  him  to  write  with 
great  accuracy. 

*  Chandless's  papers  on  the  Rio  Aquiry.  (Jour.  Roy.  Geog.  Soc.) 
t  Professor  O.  C.  Marsh,  in  one  of  his  papers  read  before  the  Salem  meeting 
of  the  American  Association,  called  attention  to  the  rarity  of  the  Mosasauroid 
forms  in  the  European  cretaceous  and  their  great  abundance  in  the  cretaceous 
of  North  America.  It  is  interesting  to  observe  the  occurrence  of  this  same 
type  in  South  America. 


PROVINCES   OF  MARANHAO,   PARA,   AND  AMAZONAS.       495 

Mr.  Theberge,  the  Aquiry  beds  must  resemble  those  of  Ceara, 
in  which  the  fossil  fishes  occur. 

On  the  Purus  Mr.  Chandless  *  found  the  same  beds  at 
about  ^t.  7°  15'  S.,  long.  66°  W.,  with  bones  and  an  abun 
dance  of  fossil  wood. 

*  Ascent  of  Puriis,  Jour.  Roy.  Geog.  Soc.,  Vol.  XXXVI. 


496  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 


CHAPTER    XYT. 

PROVINCES  OF  GOYAZ  AND  MATTO  GROSSO. 

The  Geographical  Position  of  the  Province  of  Goyaz.  —  The  Chapada  da 
Maugabeira.  —  Geology  of  the  Vicinity  of  Natividade.  —  Gold-Washings  of 
the  Serra  da  Natividade,  the  Arraial  da  Chapada,  and  the  Arraial  da  Con- 
ceicao.  —  Structure  of  the  Serra  at  the  Town  of  Arrayas.  —  The  Serra 
Geral.  —  Subterranean  Streams.  —  Western  and  Southern  Goyaz  composed 
of  Metamorphic  Hocks.  —  Distribution  of  Gneissose  and  Granitic  Rocks  in 
Western  Brazil.  —  The  Monies  Pyrenees  and  their  Height.  —  The  Rio 
Araguaya  and  its  Navigation.  —  Dr.  Couto  de  Magalhaes. —  Ilha  tlo  Ba- 
nanal. — Note  on  Piranhas.  — Gold,  Diamonds,  Iron,  and  Chrome  Ores. — 
Climate,  Forests,  Population,  &c.  —  The  Western  Part  of  the-Plateau  of 
Brazil  composed  of  undisturbed  Beds  of  Sandstone,  &c.  —  The  Amazonas- 
Paraguay  Water-shed  a  Plain  without  Serras. 

THE  materials  for  writing  a  sketch  of  the  Geology  of  the 
Province  of  Goyaz  are  very  meagre,  since  it  has  never  been 
explored  by  any  competent  modern  geologist.  St.  Hilaire, 
Pohl,*  Burchell,  and  several  other  naturalists  visited  the 
province  in  the  early  part  of  the  century.  Gardner  made 
a  journey  through  the  eastern  part  in  the  year  1840,  mak 
ing  a  few  geological  observations;  but  Castelnau,  in  1844, 
travelled  very  extensively  through  the  length  and  breadth 
of  the  province,  furnishing  us  with  connected  and  valuable 
geological  sections,  though  these  sections  and  the  accom 
panying  text  rarely  ever  do  more  than  indicate  the  litho- 

*  Pohl's  (G.  E.)  Reise  im  Innern  von  Brasilien  in  den  Jahren  1817-1821, 
2  Bde.,  mit  Atlas  (Wein,  1831  -37),  and  his  Beitrdge  zur  Gebirgskunde  Brazil- 
tens  (Munchen,  1832)  I  have  never  seen. 


PROVINCES  OF  GOYAZ  AND  MATTO  GROSSO.      497 

logical  character  of  the  formations.  The  stratigraphy  is 
vaguely  given,  and  no  attempt  is  made  to  show  the  age  of 
the  different  deposits. 

Goyaz  lies  west  of  the  provinces  of  Piauhy,  Bahia,  and 
Minas  Geraes,  and  is  very  long  from  north  to  south,  and 
narrow  from  east  to  west.  It  comprises  the  basin  of  the 
Tocantins  above  its  junction  with  the  Araguaya,  the  part  of 
the  basin  of  the  Araguaya  east  of  that  river,  and  the  right 
side  of  the  basin  of  the  Paranahyba,  from  the  Rio  Jacare 
to  the  Rio  Apure. 

The  Chapada  da  Mangabeira  is,  as  already  remarked,  the 
southward  continuation  of  the  table-land  separating  the 
province  of  Piauhy  from  the  valley  of  the  Sao  Francisco. 
It  is  in  some  places  quite  forty  miles  in  width.  Its  top 
forms  a  plain,  and  it  consists  of  horizontal  beds  of  sand 
stone  lying  on  metamorphic  rocks.  Between  the  chapada 
and  Natividade  the  country  is  composed  of  these  latter 
strata,  while  the  serra  at  Natividade  has,  according  to  Gard 
ner,  the  centre  of  granite,  overlaid  by  schistose  rocks.  The 
western  side  of  the  serra  is  bounded  by  beds  of  a  very  com 
pact  grayish-colored  limestone,  which  extends  northwards  for 
several  leagues,  forming  a  range  of  low  hills.  The  surface 
deposits  on  this  serra,  which  are  largely  composed  of  a  fer 
ruginous  gravel,  doubtless  like  the  drift  cascalho  of  Minas 
Novas,  contain  gold,  anciently  mined  to  some  extent.  Gard 
ner  says  that  the  view  east  and  north  from  the  serra  is 
bounded  by  several  low  ridges,  but  that  to  the  west  and 
south  the  country  appeared  to  be  one  vast  plain.  The 
same  traveller  tells  us  that  the  whole  country  about  the 
Arraial  da  Chapada,  a  few  leagues  west,  has  been  turned 
over  in  search  of  gold.  The  Arraial  stands  on  a  low  cha 
pada,  but  Gardner  does  not  describe  its_  structure.  Gold 


498  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

also  occurs  in  the  vicinity  of  tlie  Arraial  da  Conceic,ao. 
Gardner's  account  of  the  structure  of  the  serra  on  which 
the  town  of  Arrayas  stands  is  interesting.  The  rocks  are 
all  metamorphic  and  almost  vertical,  the  inclination  tend 
ing  toward  the  east.  Gardner  says :  "  The  most  westerly 
of  these  rocks  have  an  arenaceous,  schistose  structure,  and 
these  overlie  a  very  compact,  grayish-colored,  stratified  rock 
very  much  resembling  gneiss,  in  which  are  imbedded  in 
numerable  rounded  pebbles  of  granite  and  quartz,  of  all 
sizes,  from  one  to  three  or  four  inches,  and  which  is  probably 
equivalent  to  the  graywacke  rocks  of  the  Old  World."  Lime 
stones,  which  occur  both  to  the  north  and  south,  were  not 
observed  here.  Whether  the  limestones  mentioned  belong 
in  the  same  series  with  the  slates  does  not  appear  from 
Gardner's  statement.  The  Serra  Geral,  eastward  of  Arrayas 
is  described  as  being  of  no  great  elevation,  and  present 
ing  a  level  top  as  far  as  the  eye  can  reach,  being  evidently 
the  continuation  of  the  Chapada  da  Mangabeira,  and,  like 
it,  composed  of  horizontal  sandstone  beds.*  In  speaking 
of  the  road  from  Bonita  to  Arraial  de  Sao'  Domingos,  we 
are  told  that  "  the  top  of  the  serra  still  continued  to  be 
level,  with  a  precipitous  face,  the  rock  being  of  a  reddish 
yellow,"  and  that  "  shortly  after  leaving  Bonita  an  elevated 
pyramidal  peak  of  the  same  elevation  as  the  serra  is 
descried  to  the  southeast,  presenting  a  remarkable  resem 
blance  to  some  enormous  work  of  art,"  so  that  there  can 
be  no  doubt  about  the  general  structure  of  the  serra. 

Castelnau  represents  on  his  map  a  little  stream  just  north 
of  Sao  Domingos  as  flowing  in  a  subterranean  channel. f 
Gardner  describes  a  river  near  the  Fazenda  de  Sao  Joao, 

*  This  is  confirmed  by  Mr.  Thomas  Ward,  who  has  travelled  over  it. 
t  Castelnau,  Vmt  Partie,  GeogmpHif,  Atlas,  Planche  4. 


PROVINCES   OF   GOYAZ   AND   MATTO   GROSSO.  499 

that  disappears  in  an  opening  in  limestone  strata,  and 
runs  underground  for  several  miles,  when  it  reappears.* 

On  his  journey  to  Sao  Romao  Gardner  followed  the  Serra 
Geral  from  near  Sao  Domingos  to  the  head-waters  of  the 
Urucuia,  and  he  describes  it  as  one  great  elevated  plain  or 
chapadao.  Of  the  geological  structure  of  the  southern  part 
he  gives  but  few  hints,  but  as  he  occasionally  mentions  the 
occurrence  of  limestone  it  is  very  probable  that  it  may  be,  in 
part  at  least,  composed  of  strata  of  that  rock,  the  continua 
tion  of  the  horizontal  limestone  deposits  of  the  Rio  das 
Velhas.  Most  maps  represent  a  narrow  mountain-chain 
separating  the  basins  of  the  Sao  Francisco  and  the  Tocan- 
tins,  and  Gerber,  in  his  map  of  Minas  Geraes,  though  he 
represents  correctly  the  Chapadoes  de  Santa  Maria  and 
do  Urucuia,  with  their  great  level  tops,  draws  along  the 
water-shed  a  mountain-chain  on  top  of  the  chapada,  call 
ing  it  the  Serra  das  Araras  and  the  Serra  do  Paranan. 
Along  this  whole  region  we  have  no  evidence  that  I 
have  seen  of  the  existence  of  any  extensive  elevations 
breaking  through  the  great  table-land.  Castelnau's  map  of 
the  southern  part  of  the  province  shows  the  chapada  as 
extending  southward  nearly  to  Catalao.  Gerber  represents 
a  chapada  on  the  opposite  or  south  side  of  the  valley  of 
the  Urucuia.  When  we  come,  however,  to  the  southern  part 
of  the  province,  we  find,  just  over  the  limits,  in  the  Prov 
ince  of  Minas  Geraes,  the  immense  Chapada  da  Tabatinga 
lying  between  the  Rios  Grande  and  Paranahyba,  and  com 
posed  of  horizontal  beds  of  sandstones,  &c. 

According  to  Castelnau,  Saint  Hilaire,  and  others,  the 

*  There  are  other  examples  of  subterranean  streams  in  Brazil.  Gerber 
represents  the  Rio  Partlo,  an  affluent  of  the  Suo  Francisco  on  the  left  side, 
as  flowing  under  a  ridge. 


500  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

foundation  rock  of  western  and  southern  Goyaz  is  every 
where  gneiss,  mica-schists,  clay-slates,  and  limestones,  evi 
dently  belonging  to  the  same  metamorphic  series  we  find 
in  the  eastern  part  of  the  Brazilian  plateau.  These  rocks 
are  much  folded,  rising  in  mountains  comparing  in  eleva 
tion  with  those  of  Minas  Geracs.  The  ridge  dividing  the 
basin  of  the  Tocantins  from  that  of  the  Paranahyba  branch 
of  the  Parana  is  of  the  same  character.  Clay  slates  and 
other  metamorphic  rocks  are  seen  at  Cuiabd  and  Diaman- 
tino  in  Matto  Grosso,  and  Chandless  *  speaks  of  granite 
seen  in  the  bed  of  the  river  Tapajos,  ten  miles  above  the 
Rio  de  Peixes,  just  below  the  Rio  das  Tropas,  at  the  shal 
low  of  Mangabal  Grande,  and  at  various  points  below  on 
the  same  river.  All  these  observations  go  to  show  that  the 
great  Brazilian  plateau,  like  that  of  Guyana,  was  originally 
wholly  composed  of  gncissosc  and  schistose  metamorphic 
rocks,  much  disturbed  throughout.  It  has  been  supposed  by 
some  that,  going  westward  from  the  Serra  do  Espinha^o,  the 
signs  of  metamorphism  disappeared,  and  that  rocks  which 
in  eastern  Minas  Geraes  might  have  been  highly  metamor 
phosed  spread  out  flatly  westward,  as  in  the  eastern  part 
of  the  United  States  the  palaeozoic  rocks  which  were  folded 
along  the  Alleghanian  region  spread  horizontally  over  the 
west.  This  is  not  the  case,  so  far  as  I  can  learn,  in  Brazil. 
The  metamorphic  part  of  the  Brazilian  plateau,  so  high  on 
the  east,  in  Minas  slopes  off  to  the  north-northwest,  and 
southwcstward  from  the  vicinity  of  Ouro  Preto,  and  dips 
under  the  great  sheet  of  tertiary  rocks,  showing  itself  only 
where  these  are  denuded,  or  where  an  occasional  and  rare 
prominence  pierces  these  strata,  but  a  ridge  of  these  rocks 
stretches  off  in  a  series  of  high  lands  from  Ouro  Preto  and 
Barbacena  into  Goyaz. 

*  Journal  Royal  Geographical  Society,  Vol.  XXXII. 


PROVINCES  OF  GOYAZ  AND  MATTO  GROSSO.      501 

Mr.  Thomas  Ward,  in  a  note  addressed  to  the  author,  very 
aptly  describes  the  Province  of  Goyaz  as  a  metamorphic 
island  in  a  sea  of  sandstone,  and  such  seems  indeed  to  be 
the  case.  The  sandstones  have  been  swept  away  from  the 
greater  part  of  the  Araguaya-Tocantins  basin,  leaving  the 
irregular  surface  of  the  metamorphic  rocks  exposed.  The 
highest  points  in  Goyaz  are  the  Montes  Pyrenees,  near  the 
city  of  Goyaz,  which  are  said  to  be  over  9,500  feet.* 

The  highlands  in  Southern  Central  Goyaz,  collectively 
known  as  part  of  the  Serra  dos  Vertentes  of  Baron  von 
Eschwcge,  form  the  water-shed  between  the  Tocantins- 
Araguaya  basin  on  the  north  and  the  Parana  basin  on  the 
south.  The  Araguaya  and  Tocantins  above  their  junction 
are  both  large  rivers,  but  the  Araguaya  is  very  much  longer, 
and  should  rank  as  the  main  river.  It  flows  for  the 
greater  part  of  its  length  at  a  much  lower  level  than  the 
Tocantins,  and  it  offers  much  greater  facilities  for  navigation. 
The  Araguaya  has  been  several  times  explored.  Castelnau  f 
in  1844  descended  the  river  from  the  mouth  of  the  Crixas  to 
its  union  with  the  Tocantins,  and  then  ascended  the  Tocan 
tins,  making  plans  of  both  rivers.  He  found  the  Araguaya 
navigable  and  with  but  few  obstructions.  In  1856  the 
President  of  the  Province  sent  Sr.  Vallee  to  explore  the 
same  river,  and  he  reported  that  it  might  easily  be  made 
navigable  4 

*  I  find  in  the  Bahia  Interesse  Publico  for  the  21st  of  November,  1868,  a  letter 
from  Sr.  H.  R.  dos  Genettcs,  describing  an  ascent  of  the  Pyrenees.  This  gen 
tleman  says  that  he  ascertained  the  height  of  the  most  elevated  point  to  be  2,932 
metres,  or  about  9,619  feet,  which  is  much  greater  than  had  been  supposed. 

t  Castelnau,  Expe'd.  dans  I'Amfr.  du  Sud,  Hist,  du  Voyage,  Tomes  I.  et  II. ; 
also  Atlas. 

J  E.  J.  C.  Vallee,  Erploracao  do  Rio  Araguaya.  Published  in  the  Anncxo  P,  to 
one  of  the  Government  Reports,  published,  I  think,  in  1865.  My  copy  wants 
the  title-page. 


1 
502  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

Dr.  Couto  de  Magalhaes,  formerly  President  of  Goyaz, 
espoused  the  cause  of  the  Araguaya,  and  navigated  it  in  a 
little  steamer  from  Jurupencem,  fourteen  leagues  from  the 
capital  on  the  Rio  Vermelho,  a  branch  of  the  Araguaya,  to 
Para.  The  president  published  not  long  since  an  excellent 
memorial  on  the  advantages  to  be  gained  by  the  navigation 
of  the  river.  Mr.  Ward  tells  me  that  a  steamer  now  makes 
regular  trips  from  Parti  to  Goyaz.  I  have  told  the  story  of 
Araguaya  to  show  that  Brazil  is  not  wholly  without  the 
spirit  of  enterprise.  She  is  exploring  her  great  rivers  and 
establishing,  slowly  it  is  true,  steam  navigation  upon  them, 
and  in  a  few  years  the  interior  of  Brazil,  so  long  shut  out 
from  the  world,  will  be  accessible  to  commerce. 

The  lands  bordering  the  Araguaya  are  in  great  part  flat, 
low,  and  composed  of  sands,  clays,  and  other  very  recent  de 
posits.  An  interesting  feature  in  the  river  is  the  Ilha  do 
Bananal,  formed  by  an  arm  leaving  the  main  river  on  the 
east  in  latitude  about  12°  80'  (approx.),  and  entering  it 
again  in  about  9°  30'.  Castelnau  determined  the  length  of 
the  island  to  be  seventy-five  leagues.  Almeida,  in  his  map 
of  Goyaz,  does  not  represent  it  as  quite  so  long. 

The  Araguaya  is  very  rich  in  fish,*  and  a  species  of 
dolphin  occurs  in  it. 

Gold  is  found  in  many  localities  in  the  province.     The 

*  Castelnau  says  that  piranhas  —  he  calls  them  pirangas  —  are  very  numer 
ous  and  voracious.  According  to  him,  "  leur  voracite  est  telle,  que  presque 
tous  les  oiseaux  aquatiques  que  nous  procurions  avaient  les  pattes  en  partie 

devore'es  par  eux Un  de  nos  compagnons  de  voyage  pousse  par  1'exces  de 

la  chaleur,  se  mit  imprudemment  a  1'eau,  et  fut  presque  aussi  tot  attaque  par 
des  legions  de  ces  animaux  ;  immediatement  les  caux  furcnt  teintes  de  son  sang 
et  il  fut  heureux  pour  lui  qu'il  se  trouvat  tres  pres  du  rivage,  vers  lequel  il  se 
pre'cipita  avec  rapidite,  echappant  ainsi  aune  mortcertaine  et  affreuse."  —  Hist, 
du  VOI//IIJK,  Tome  I.  p.  404. 


PROVINCES  OF  GOYAZ  AXD  MATTO  GROSSO.      503 

country  in  the  vicinity  of  the  capital  is  largely  auriferous. 
Castelnau  speaks  of  the  occurrence  of  the  precious  metal  at 
the  following  localities,  Rio  Vernielho,  Rio  Bagagem,  Serra 
Dourado,  Districto  de  Ouro  Fino,  Morro  do  Calisto,  Districto 
da  Anta,  Thesouras,  Rio  Claro,  Julgado  de  Crixas,  Nativi- 
dade,  Trahiras,  &c. 

Diamonds  have  been  found  on  the  Rio  Claro ;  iron  occurs 
at  Ouro  Fino,  Anta,  Aldea  de  Sao  Jose,  and  chrome  at  Ouro 
Fino,  where  it  is  said  to  have  been  found  by  Pohl. 

The  Province  of  Goyaz  is,  generally  speaking,  dry,  con 
sisting  of  campos  and  catingas.  Forests  have  but  a  small 
extension.  There  is  a  large  tract  covered  by  the  virgin 
forest  between  the  capital  and  Meia  Ponte.  The  province 
is  especially  adapted  for  grazing.  The  climate  is  dry,  but 
varies  much,  according  to  latitude.  The  population  is,  ac 
cording  to  Almeida,  250,000  souls.* 

The  western  part  of  the  high  lands  of  Brazil,  forming  the 
Amazonas-Paraguay  water-shed,  and  comprised  in  the  prov 
ince  of  Matto  Grosso,  is  completely  covered  with  undis 
turbed  tertiary  beds,  and  forms  a  low  swelling  plateau, 
on  which  the  rivers  take  their  source. 

This  is  well  shown  in  the  maps  and  geological  sections 
accompanying  the  great  work  of  Count  Castelnau.  The 
rivers  Xingti,  Tapajos,  and  Paraguay  all  take  their  rise  in 
this  plain  f  within  a  few  miles  of  one  another,  near  Diaman- 

*  Castelnau  devotes  Chapter  XVII.  of  the  second  volume  of  his  Hist,  du 
Voyage  to  a  description  of  the  Province  of  Goyaz. 

t  Chandless  says  that  the  water-shed  between  the  Amazonas  and  the  Para 
guay,  "  though  commonly  called  a  serra,  has  nothing  of  a  mountainous  charac 
ter.  It  is  simply  a  high  range  of  country,  varying  but  little  in  its  general 
elevation,  though  deeply  grooved  by  the  valleys  of  the  rivers.  Around  them 
one  finds  more  or  less  virgin  wood ;  the  rest  is  campo,  that  is,  pastures  sprinkled 
more  or  less  thickly  with  stunted  trees,  in  parts  including  the  quina  tree.  This 


504  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

tino,  and  the  water-shed  is  so  low  that  wooden  canoes  ascend 
the  Tapajos  from  Santarem,  cross  over,  and  embark  on  the 
Paraguay,  descending  to  Villa  Maria. 

In  descending  the  Tapajos,  on  his  way  from  the  Diaman 
tino  to  the  Amazonas,  Chandless  found  the  river  bordered 
by  sandstones,  which,  as  at  Crepore",  he  describes  as  soft  in 
character. 

On  the  road  from  Goyaz  to  Cuiaba  one  passes  over  an 
immense  plain  of  sandstone  in  horizontal  beds.  The  valley 
of  the  Paraguay  at  Cuiaba  and  Diamantino  is  excavated  in 
this  sandstone  sheet  down  to  the  metamorphic  rocks  lying 
beneath.  In  the  valley  of  the  Paraguay,  near  Cuiaba  and 
Diamantino,  diamonds  and  gold  occur  in  considerable  abun 
dance. 

So  little  is  definitely  known  about  the  geology  and  physi 
cal  geography  of  the  Province  of  Matto  Grosso,  that  I  con 
tent  myself  with  these  few  general  remarks.  Castelnau  has 
written  more  than  any  one  else  on  the  physical  features  of 
the  province,  and  the  reader  is  referred  to  his  Histoire  du 
Voyage  for  more  details. 

range  seems  to  consist  mainly  of  sand-rock  and  clay.  In  general  it  drops 
steeply  and  often  precipitously  to  the  lower  country,  the  plain  below  appearing 
as  a  sea  with  deep  bays  and  inlets." 


PROVINCES   SOUTH   OF   RIO.  505 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

PROVINCES    OF    SAO    PAULO,    PARANA,   SANTA   CATHARINA,   AND 
RIO   GRANDE   DO    SUL. 

The  Serra  do  Mar  of  Sao  Paulo  a  Plateau.  — Its  Character.  — Drainage  in  the 
Provinces  of  Sao  Paulo  and  Parana  to  the  Westward.  —  Eastward-flowing 
Streams  of  no  Importance.  —  The  Sao  Paulo  Railroad.  —  Description  of  the 
Country,  along  the  Railway  between  Santos  and  Scao  Paulo  by  Major  0.  C. 
James.  —  Geology  of  Vicinity  of  Sao  Paulo.  —  Mawe's  Description  of  the 
Gold-Mines  of  Jaragua,  and  the  Method  of  extracting  the  Gold.  —  Country 
westward  to  Campinas.  —  Iron-Mines  at  Ypanema  —  Serra  Arassoiava  or 
Guarayoiava.  —  Climate,  Products,  &c.,  of  the  Province  of  Sao  Paulo.  — 
General  Topographical  Features  of  the  Province  of  Parana,  its  Climate, 
Productions,  &c.  —  Matte  or  Paraguayan  Tea.  —  Tea-Planting  in  Brazil.  — 
Rivers.  —  Colonies.  —  Paranagua.  —  Coal  Basin  on  the  Rio  Tuberao  in  the 
Province  of  Santa  Catharina.  —  General  Description  of  the  Physical  Features 
of  the  Province  and  that  of  Rio  Grande  do  Sul.  —  History  of  the  Coal-Mines 
of  Brazil.  — Observations  of  Perigot,  Bouleich,  Ave-Lallemant,  Plant,  &c.  — 
Description  of  the  Coal-Fields  of  the  River  Jaguarao.  —  Engineer  McGinty's 
Report  on  the  Candiota  Coal.  —  Coal  Basin  on  Rio  Sao  Sepe'.  —  Basin  near 
Sao  Jeronymo. 

THE  so-called  Serra  do  Mar,  seen  in  sailing  along  the  coast 
of  the  Provinces  of  Sao  Paulo  and  Parana,  is  the  edge  of  the 
great  Brazilian  plateau,  which  along  the  coast  of  Sao  Paulo 
has  a  height  of  2,500  -  3,000  feet.*  Towards  the  sea  it  pre 
sents  a  very  steep  declivity,  but  on  the  opposite  side  there  is 
no  corresponding  slope.  Climbing  the  serra  at  Santos,  one 
finds  himself  on  an  immense  table-land  of  gneiss,  roughened 
by  a  line  of  considerable  hills  a  few  miles  from  its  edge,  but 

*  Mawe  estimated  the  height  of  the  plateau  on  the  Santos  and  Sao  Paulo 
road  at  6,000  feet. 

VOL.  i.  22 


506  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

soon  growing  gradually  lower  in  going  westward,  until  at 
Campinas  broad  plains  are  reached,  that  stretch  off  with 
more  or  less  interruption  toward  the  Parana,  tying  in 
with  the  great  plains  of  Paraguay  and  the  Argentine  Re 
public.  The  united  provinces  of  Sao  Paulo  and  Parand 
lie,  like  Ohio  in  North  America,  on  the  western  slope  of 
the  border  of  the  great  interior  continental  basin  of  South 
America.  As  the  bluff  edge  of  the  plateau  so  nearly  coin 
cides  with  the  coast  line,  the  drainage  in  these  two  prov 
inces  is  principally  westward  into  the  Parana,  while  the 
rivers  flowing  eastward  are  of  very  little  importance.  The 
province  of  Santa  Catharina,  just  south  of  Parand,  lies 
partly  on  the  seaward  side  of  the  serra  and  partly  behind 
it.  The  streams  flowing  eastward  are  of  no  importance, 
while  those  flowing  westward  form  the  head-waters  of  the 
Uruguay.  South  of  the  province  of  Parana  the  water-shed 
bends  inland  some  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles,  and  then 
runs  southward  through  the  province  of  Rio  Grande  do 
Sul,  ending  as  the  high  lands  break  down  and  disappear 
on  approaching  the  Rio  de  la  Plata. 

The  city  of  Sao  Paulo,  the  capital  of  the  province  of 
the  same  name,  is  situated  on  the  top  of  the  plateau, 
at  a  distance  of  forty-five  miles  from  the  sea.  The  prin 
cipal  port  of  the  province  is  Santos,  a  considerable  town 
of  some  7,000  inhabitants,  and  noted  for  its  export  of 
coffee,  which  reaches  160,000  sacks  yearly.  From  this 
place  to  Sao  Paulo  runs  a  railway,  which  is  continued  west 
ward  beyond  Campinas.  This  railway  was  constructed  by 
American  engineers,  and  my  friend,  Major  0.  C.  James,* 
was  one  of  the  corps.  On  my  last  voyage,  while  at  Rio,  I 

*  I  wish  I  could  fully  express  my  indebtedness  to  Major  James  :  I  owe  him  a 
thousand  acknowledgments  for  his  kindness. 


PROVINCES   SOUTH   OF  RIO.  507 

obtained  so  many  facts  of  interest  from  him  with  reference 
to  the  topography  and  geology  of  Sao  Paulo,  that,  as  he  was 
about  to.  return  to  Sao  Paulo,  I  asked  him  to  make  obser 
vations  on  the  surface  deposits  along  the  line  of  railway, 
which  he  did,  furnishing  me  with  a  report,  from  which 
nearly  all  the  facts  relating  to  the  route  of  the  railway  have 
been  taken.  Major  James  says  that  Santos  is  "  within  a 
league  or  two  of  the  foot  of  the  great  back-bone  of  moun 
tains,  —  a  league  or  two  of  soft,  oozy  mud,  a  few  feet  above 
the  sea-level,  the  base  of  a  sort  of  estuary,  of  which  the 
spur  and  main  range  form  the  bounds.  This  interlying 
marsh  or  lagoon  is  overgrown  with  very  shabby  palms, 
large  moss-covered  trees,  looking  like  spectres  in  the  land 
scape,  and  with  a  very  heavy,  tangled  undergrowth,  — 
lazy,  sinuous  lines  of  water,  having  their  beginnings  and 
endings  in  the  sea,  traverse  it,  as  if  it  were  just  for  a 
stroll  inland  beneath  the  umbrageous  foliage  and  back 
again  to  the  ocean  refreshed."  *  Just  before  the  railroad 
reaches  the  base  of  the  serra  the  mud  is  left,  and  a  broad 
band  of  gravel  is  crossed.  This  lies  at  a  higher  level  than 
the  mud,  and  appears  to  slope  away  from  the  serra.  The 
materials  are  very  coarse,  and  there  were  no  sands  seen. 
Major  James  says :  "  We  dug  into  it  ten  feet  or  so,  to 
get  gravel  for  ballast.  There  are  no  shells  in  it.  The 
height  above  sea-level  is  not  great,  —  say  ten  or  twelve 
feet,  not  more  than  twenty."  This  deposit  evidently  corre 
sponds  to  the  raised  beaches  of  Rio  and  northward. 

A  few  small  streams  flow  into  the  estuary,  and  the  rail 
road  follows  one  of  these  until  a  deep  gorge  in  the  moun 
tain  is  reached,  —  a  gorge  formed  by  two  spurs  jutting  out  at 
right  angles  to  the  line  of  the  serra,  placed  like  abutments 

*  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  add  that  the  locality  is  very  unhealthy. 


508  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

to  support  the  mountain.  Taking  the  southern  slope  of  the 
northern  spur,  the  railway  creeps  up  at  an  angle  of  one  in 
ten  until  it  reaches  the  summit,  five  miles  from  the  plain, 
having  attained  an  elevation  of  twenty-six  hundred  feet. 


CUTTING  ON  THE   SAO  PAULO    RAILWAY,    SHOWING   DIUFT    LYING   ON   DECOM 
POSED    ROCK.* 

Beginning  near  the  foot  of  the  semi,  an  examination  of 
some  of  the  cuttings  through  the  massive  corrugations  of  the 
hillside  reveals  a  yellow  unstratified  clay,f  not  very  compact, 
interspersed  with  pebbles,  stones,  and  rocks,  nearly  all  well 

*  The  decomposed  rock  is  seen  gullied  away  underneath  the  drift. 

t  Major  James  says  that  this  is  generally  the  color  of  the  drift-clay  even  to  its 
whole  depth.  He  compares  the  drift-paste  on  the  Sao  Paulo  Railroad  on  the 
slope  of  the  serra  to  that  exposed  in  the  deep  cutting:  near  Rodeio  on  the 
Dom  Pedro  Segundo  Railroad.  At  Sao  Paulo,  however,  it  is  more  red,,  as  we 
shall  presently  see. 


PROVINCES   SOUTH   OF   RIO.  509 

rounded,  overlying  the  rock  in  situ,  a  decomposed  gneiss. 
Here  and  there  in  a  few  cuttings  a  thin  sheet  of  pebbles  may 
be  traced  between  the  yellow  clay  and  the  rock,  losing  itself 
now  and  then.  This  description  will  apply  generally  to  all 
the  cuttings  except  a  few  where  the  excavation  is  made 
through  partially  decomposed  rock. 

Major  James  informs  me  that  the  clay  is  thicker  on  the  top 
of  the  ribs  or  corrugations  of  the  hills  cut  through  by  the 
railroad  than  on  the  sides,  which  is  owing  to  the  denudation 
of  the  slopes.  This  clay  sheet  may  be  fifty  or  more  feet  in 
thickness.  On  reaching  the  top  of  the  serra  one  finds  him 
self  on  an  elevated  country,  a  table-land  diversified  by  hill 
and  valley,  the  hills  being  generally  low  and  rounded,  the 
valleys  wide  and  with  a  luxuriant  vegetation  flourishing  on 
marshy  bottoms.  On  the  old  mule-road  near  the  edge  of  the 
plateau  the  country  is  gently  rolling,  and  for  some  eight  or 
nine  miles  the  soil,  when  not  covered  by  a  sparse  vegeta 
tion,  is  of  a  gray  color,  and  presents  a  dreary  aspect.  On 
the  surface  is  a  layer  of  white  sand,  only  two  or  three  inches 
in  thickness  generally,  but  when  drifted  of  course  more. 
Under  the  sand  is  an  almost  white  clay,  of  about  the  same 
consistence  as  potter's  clay.  Adobe  houses  built  with  it  are 
nearly  white.  Under  this  is  the  drift,  which  is  exposed  in 
the  banks  of  the  Rio  das  Pedras,  that  flows  through  this 
tract  and  runs  toward  the  coast.  The  highest  point  in  the 
serra  is  to  the  west  of  this  region. 

Near  Tamanduatahy  the  land  spreads  out  between  the 
hills  level  as  a  lake,  and  about  two  miles  wide,  covered  with 
deep  layers  of  black  soil,  which  Major  James  describes  as 
"  fibrous  and  woody  like  peat."  He  informs  me  that  the  rail 
road  was  built  over  the  surface  of  this  bog,  and  he  did  not 
know  what  kind  of  a  soil  underlay  it,  but  he  felt  satisfied 


510  GEOLOGY   AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

that  it  occupied  a  shallow  valley  in  the  drift,  which  he  be 
lieved  extended  underneath.  Beyond  this  are  some  cuttings 
through  higher  ground,  in  which  the  reddish  drift-paste, 
nearly  one  hundred  feet  in  thickness,  is  cut  through.  In  this 
clay  are  "boulders  like  those  of  the  serra,  of  a  very  hard, 
bluish-gray  rock  scattered  through  the  loose  material,  and 
in  one  or  two  instances  exposed  on  the  surface." 

The  city  of  Sao  Paulo  lies  at  a  distance  of  forty-five  miles 
from  Santos.  It  is  a  large  and  important  city  of  20,000 
inhabitants  built  on  high  ground,  nearly  surrounded  by  a 
low  plain,  through  which  flows,  on  the  west,  the  river 
Tiete*,  one  of  the  affluents  of  the  Parana.  According  to 
Ma  we,  the  hill  on  which  Sao  Paulo  is  built  consists  of  the 
following  deposits  in  descending  order.  First  of  all,  a  coat 
ing  of  red  soil  more  or  less  thick,  impregnated  with  iron 
oxide  ;  under  this  is  sand,  together  with  other  materials 
associated  with  pebbles,  the  whole  being  from  three  to  six 
feet  thick.  Under  this  comes  a  layer  of  purplish  or  varie 
gated  clay,  with  thin  layers  of  sand  ;  then  follows  a  layer  of 
stratified  materials,  the  whole  resting  on  decomposed  gneiss- 
granite.*  At  Itu,  a  short  distance  from  Sao  Paulo,  the  Rio 
Tietd  is  represented  by  Major  James  as  cutting  through  hori 
zontal  deposits  of  red  sandstone  and  conglomerate,  and  this 
is  the  material  which  is  used  to  pave  the  streets  of  the 
capital ;  as  Fletcher  and  Mawe  have  remarked,  the  rock 
contains  gold.f 

*  M.  Pissis  p;ives  a  similar  description  of  the  deposit,  and  illustrates  it  by  a 
section.  He  calls  the  horizontal  deposits  of  Sao  Paulo  and  Itu  fresh-water  ter 
tiary,  and  says  that  a  similar  lacustrine  deposit  occurs  in  the  upper  part  of 
the  valley  of  the  Parahyha  do  Sul.  (Mem.  de.  V Institute  de  France,  Vol.  X.) 

t  Mawe  (American  edition,  p.  73),  speaking  of  the  streets  of  Sao  Paulo, 
says  :  "  The  material  with  which  they  are  paved  is  lamillary  grit  stone,  cemented 
with  oxide  of  iron,  and  containing  large  pebbles  of  rounded  quartz,  approxi- 


PROVINCES   SOUTH  OF  RIO.  511 

Westward  of  Sao  Paulo  are  some  high  hills  ;  the  most 
conspicuous  among  which  is  Jaragua,  in  whose  vicinity 
gold-mines  were  anciently  worked. 

Mr.  Mawe,  during  his  travels  in  Brazil,  visited  these  gold 
mines,  and  described  them  in  his  "  Travels  in  the  Interior 
of  Brazil."  I  am  unable  to  refer  to  the  English  edition,  but 
I  translate  a  few  paragraphs  from  a  French  abstract,*  since 
it  gives  very  neatly  the  mode  of  occurrence  of  the  gold  and 
the  ancient  method  of  extracting  it. 

After  speaking  of  the  discoveries  made  by  the  Paulistas, 
he  goes  on  to  say  :  — 

"  The  gold-mines  of  Jaragua,  being  situated  at  a  distance  of 
four  leagues  from  Sao  Paulo,  were  the  first  that  were  discovered. 
This  part  of  the  country  is  unequal  and  mountainous.  The  rock 
forming  the  principal  base  of  the  soil  rarely  ever  shows  itself.  It 
appears  to  be  a  granite  f  passing  into  gneiss. 

"  This  primitive  rock  is  immediately  covered  over  in  many  points 
by  a  bed  of  a  not  very  solid  agglomeration,  formed  principally  of 
pebbles  of  quartz  and  gravel.  This  itself  is  covered  only  by  the 
vegetable  earth. 

"  It  is  this  conglomerate  that  is  intermingled  with  grains  of 
gold.  They  give  it  the  name  of  cascalho.\ 

"  The  mining  takes  place  in  open  cuttings,  and  the  extraction 
of  the  gold  is  carried  on  by  washing ;  negroes  are  employed  in 
this  work. 

mating  to  the  conglomerate.  This  pavement  is  an  alluvial  formation,  contain 
ing  gold,  many  particles  of  which  metal  are  found  in  the  chinks  and  hollows, 
after  heavy  rains,  and  at  such  seasons  are  diligently  sought  for  by  the  poorer 
sort  of  people." 

See  also  Spix  and  Martins,  "  Travels  in  Brazil,"  English  Translation,  Lon 
don,  p.  21. 

*  Annales  des  Mines,  1817,  Vol.  II.  p.  202. 

t  In  the  German  edition  Mawe  describes  the  gneiss  as  containing  some 
hornblende  and  an  abundance  of  mica. 

J  Mawe,  in  the  original  English  edition  says,  cascalhao. 


512  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY, 

"  When  a  current  of  water  can  be  found  whose  level  is  suffi 
ciently  elevated,  steps  are  cut  in  the  earth,  each  twenty  to  thirty 
feet  long,  two  or  three  wide,  and  a  foot  in  height.  At  the  base 
a  trench  two  or  three  feet  deep  is  dug. 

"  On  each  step  are  placed  six  or  eight  negroes,  who,  as  the 
water  slowly  descends  from  above,  stir  up  continually  the  earth 
with  shovels,  until  it  is  all  converted  into  a  liquid  mud  and  car 
ried  lower  down. 

"  The  particles  of  gold  contained  in  the  soil  descend  into  the 
lower  cutting  at  the  bottom,  to  which  they  soon  settle  because 
of  their  greater  specific  gravity.  The  workmen  are  continually 
employed  in  removing  the  stones  from  the  ditch,  and  in  cleaning 
the  surface,  an  operation  which  is  facilitated  by  the  current  of 
water  which  falls  there.  After  five  days  of  washing  they  remove 
the  sediment  from  the  bottom  of  the  cutting.  It  is  of  a  deep 
carbonaceous  tint,  and  composed  of  iron  oxide,  pyrites,  ferruginous 
quartz,  and  scales  of  gold. 

"  This  sediment  is  transported  to  another  current  of  water,  there 
to  undergo  another  washing  operation.  For  this  purpose  funnel- 
shaped  wooden  bowls  or  gamellas,  two  feet  large  at  the  mouth  and 
five  or  six  inches  deep,  are  used.  Each  workman,  standing  upright 
in  the  brook,  takes  about  five  or  six  pounds  of  the  auriferous  sedi 
ment  in  his  gamella.  He  then  causes  a  certain  quantity  of  water 
to  enter,  and  agitates  it  with  dexterity,  in  such  a  way  that  the  scales 
of  gold  soon  fall  to  the  bottom  and  on  the  sides  of  the  vessel, 
uniting  themselves  together  and  separating  from  the  other  lighter 
substances,  which  the  water  holds  in  suspension  and  carries  away 
little  by  little  with  it.  He  then  rinses  the  gamella  in  another 
of  larger  size,  full  of  water.  The  gold  is  deposited  there,  and  he 
recommences  a  similar  operation.  The  washing  of  a  gamella  takes 
eight  to  nine  minutes. 

"  The  gold  taken  out  varies  in  the  number  and  the  size  of 
the  scales  ;  some  are  so  small  that  they  float,  while  others  are 
as  large  as  peas  and  even  larger. 


PROVINCES   SOUTH   OF   RIO.  513 

"  This  operation,  of  which  the  result  is  of  the  greatest  impor 
tance,  is  watched  by  inspectors.  The  gold-dust  is  carried  to  a 
mint,  where  the  impost  of  the  fifth  is  taken  out  and  the  rest 
melted 

"  The  mines  of  Jaragua  have  been  famous  for  two  centuries  for 
their  great  yield.  This  district  was  regarded  as  the  Peru  of 
Brazil  ;*  but  its  riches  are  to-day  infinitely  less." 

The  occurrence  of  gold  in  the  gneiss  regions  of  the  Serra 
do  Mar,  at  Sao  Paulo  and  Cantagallo  and  in  the  same 
eozoic  belt  on  the  Mucury,  as  reported  by  the  engineer 
Schieber,  is  interesting,  as  these  rocks  are  rarely  ever  rich 
in  the  precious  metal,  and  the  whole  gneiss  belt  of  Brazil 
is  remarkably  barren  of  metalliferous  deposits  of  all  kinds. 

Gold  is  said  to  occur  in  the  Villa  de  Guarapuava,  to  the 
west  of  the  river  Tibaji  and  elsewhere  in  the  province. 

Major  James  reports  that  the  cuttings  beyond  the  Tiete 
show  the  line  of  pebbles  and  stones  overlying  the  rock. 

The  high  hill  called  Cabellos  brancos  is  bare  of  soil  and 
vegetation  on  top,  whence  the  name.f 

At  Jundiahy,  according  to  Major  James,  the  rounded  hills 
are  nearly  bodily  composed  of  the  unstratified  paste,  but 
behind  the  station  the  line  of  pebbles  may  be  distinctly 
traced,  like  a  thin  sheet  or  veil  over  the  rock.  A  few 
leagues  farther  on,  near  Campinas,  the  country  becomes  less 
rugged, —  one  might  say  it  is  heavily  undulating, —  and  here 
from  a  slight  eminence  the  gradual  descent  into  the  great 
basin  of  the  interior  is  plainly  perceptible.  The  hills  are 

*  Pompeo  says  that  the  gold-mines  of  Silo  Paulo  produced,  up  to  the  begin 
ning  of  the  present  century,  4,650  arrobas  of  gold.  ( Geoqraphia,  p.  480.) 

t  Von  Tschudi,  Vol.  III.  p.  231  :  "  Sie  fiihrt  ihren  Namen  '  Das  gebirge 
des  weissen  Haares,'  weil  dcr  Kamm  wahrend  der  kalten  Jahreszeit  in  den 
Friihstunde  oft  mil  Rcif  bedeckt  ist." 

22*  GG 


514  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

now  composed  of  a  very  dark-red  ferruginous  earth  resem 
bling  in  grain  coarse  brown  sugar ;  a  mass  squeezed  by  the 
hand  retains  the  impress  of  the  palm.  Major  James  says 
that  "  travellers  in  dry  weather  get  to  look  like  Indians !  " 
This  earth  goes  by  the  name  of  terra  roxa*  The  terra 
roxa  of  Campinas  Paulo  is,  according  to  Major  James,  the 
continuation  of  the  drift-paste  of  the  higher  lands  and 
seaward  slope  of  the  serra.  It  varies  much  in  thickness, 
and  lies  usually  on  the  tops  of  ridges  between  the  rivers, 
not  descending  into  the  valleys,  which,  as  in  the  basin  of 
the  Jequitinhonha,  are  very  deep,  steep-sided,  and  narrow. 
This  red  earth  forms  a  most  fertile  soil,  and  the  country 
covered  by  it  is  clothed  by  an  exceedingly  luxuriant  veg 
etation.  Bamboos  are  very  numerous,  but  there  are  very 
few  cacti.  No  soil  is  better  suited  to  the  coffee-tree,  and 
in  this  part  of  the  country  it  is  extensively  cultivated  on 
the  upper  lands,  but  never  on  the  slopes  or  on  the  intervales. 
The  terra  roxa  rarely  ever  contains  pebbles.  It  lies  on 
horizontal  beds,  which,  according  to  my  friend,  consist  of  "  a 
soft  friable  rock,  generally  of  a  light-gray  color,  often  hard 
and  laminated  like  that  used  for  flagging  our  sidewalks ; 
sometimes  it  is  a  red  sandstone,  very  soft ;  this  latter  is 
what  Fletcher  says  Sao  Paulo  is  paved  with."  This  same 
material  forms  the  great  plain  extending  west  to  Sao  Joao 
do  Rio  Claro,  and,  as  I  have  already  remarked,  tying  in 
with  the  formation  of  the  plains  of  the  Parana  and  the 
south.  This  formation  I  believe  to  be  the  same  as  that 
occupying  the  valley  of  the  Jequitinhonha,  and  which  I  have 
referred  to  the  tertiary. f 

*  Literally,  deep-red  earth ;  the  ordinary  red  soil  of  liio  goes  by  the  name  of 
barro  vermelho. 

t  Since  writing  the  above  I  have  received  from  Major  James  a  specimen  of 
this  rock,  which  is  precisely  like  the  clayey  sandstone  of  the  chapadas  of  the 
Jequitinhonha. 


PROVINCES   SOUTH   OF  RIO.  515 

At  Sao  Joao  de  Ipanema,  near  Sorocaba  and  about  twenty 
leagues  southwest  of  Sao  Paulo,  there  are  beds  of  sandstone 
and  limestone  associated  with  diorites  and  porphyry,  with 
heavy  deposits  of  magnetic  iron  ore.*  This  ore  is  mined 
to  a  considerable  extent,  and  is  smelted  almost  on  the 
spot. 

Von  Eschwege  says  that  the  sandstones  are  modern- 
secondary.!  I  would  suggest  a  comparison  between  them 
and  the  sandstone  and  iron  deposits  of  the  Sao  Francisco 
River,  described  by  Burton. 

These  iron  deposits  were  discovered  in  1578  by  one 
Affonso  Sardinha,  who  is  said  to  have  found  at  the 
same  time  J  "  a  vein  of  silver  (?),  of  whose  extraction  the 
government  took  charge ;  but  as  the  expense  was  great 
all  was  soon  abandoned,  and  these  sites  remained  unpeopled 
until  1803,  an  epoch  in  which  some  naturalists,  exploring 
the  serras  of  the  district  of  Sorocaba,  came  to  recognize  the 
true  importance  of  the  iron-mines  of  Guara^oiava.  After 
seven  years  the  prince-regent  brought  over  from  Sweden,  at 
no  small  expense,  a  company  of  miners,  under  the  direction 
of  an  individual  of  the  same  nation,  named  Hedberg,  who 
set  up  four  forges,  which,  owing  to  their  bad  arrangement, 
were  of  no  service In  1815  new  forges  were  con 
structed  by  order  of  the  same  prince,  together  with  a,fabrica 
on  a  larger  scale  than  the  first,  and  the  Count  of  Palma  .... 
was  charged  with  the  direction  of  the  work  of  the  engineers 
and  the  superintendence  of  everything.  This  governor  or 
dered  two  enormous  furnaces  to  be  built  beside  those  which 

*  A  collection  of  specimens  from  this  locality  made  by  Olfer  existed  in  1828 
in  the  Konigl.  Mineralogische  Museum  at  Berlin. 
t  Ann.  des  Mines,  8me  Vol.  182.3,  p.  405. 
|  Die.  Geo(j.t  art.  Sao  Joao  d'Hipancma. 


516  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL    GEOGRAPHY. 

still  existed."  *  "  The  iron  manufactured  is  excellent,  and 
the  ore  gives  fifty  to  eighty-five  pounds  of  metal  to  the 
quintal.  At  present  there  arc  two  high  furnaces  measuring 
eight  metres  in  height,  producing  regularly  3,000  kilo 
grammes  of  cast-iron  in  twenty-four  hours  with  uninter 
rupted  work." 

The  region  in  which  these  iron-works  are  situated  is  cov 
ered  with  forest,  and  wood  is  the  fuel  used.  The  flux  em 
ployed  is  limestone  and  diorite.  In  the  immediate  vicinity 
of  the  furnaces  is  found  an  excellent  quality  of  sandstone, 
of  which  a  refractory  kind  is  employed  in  the  lining  of  the 
furnaces. 

The  serra  Araassojava  (Guara^oiava),  according  to  Spix 
and  Martins,!  is  an  isolated  ridge,  about  one  thousand  feet 
high  above  the  level  of  the  river  Ipancma,  and  a  league  in 
length  from  north  to  south.  The  ore  occurs  in  a  large  de 
posit,  and  our  authors  speak  of  seeing  a  mass  of  it  forty 
feet  perpendicular.  It  is  associated  with  a  yellow  sand 
stone  with  a  scanty  argillaceous  cement,  and  a  clay  slate 
or  shale  of  a  dirty  lavender  color.  Its  strike  is  east-west. 
In  the  same  hill  a  porous  quartz  rock  of  a  light-brown  color 
was  observed,  containing  light-blue  chalcedony.  On  the  Rio 
Tiete  at  Araraitaguaba  Spix  and  Martius  report  a  sandstone 
similar  to  that  of  Ipanema. 

The  soils  of  the  Province  of  Sao  Paulo  are  exceedingly 
fertile,  and  the  climate  is  favorable  to  the  growth  especially 
of  coffee,  sugar,  and  tobacco.  Coffee  flourishes  exceedingly 
well  on  the  campinas  west  of  Sao  Paulo,  and  it  is  probable 
that  there  is  no  more  valuable  coffee  region  in  Brazil.  The 
climate  is  so  mild  in  the  vicinity  of  the  city  of  Sao  Paulo 

*   Cntaloyo  da  Seyunda  Expoaicdo  National  de  1866,  p   G9. 
t  Reise,  Vol.  I.  pp.  253,  254. 


PROVINCES   SOUTH   OF  RIO.  517 

that  many  European  plants  may  be  successfully  raised,  such 
as  flax,  wheat,  the  vine,  peaches,  <fcc.,  £c.  The  climate  on 
the  higher  lands  is  very  healthy  and  agreeable,  and  well 
suited  to  Europeans.  The  province  has  now  nearly  800,000 
inhabitants,  and  counts  a  considerable  number  of  flourishing 

7  o 

towns.  There  are  some  German  colonists  in  the  province, 
and  I  understand  that  a  considerable  number  of  Americans 
from  the  Southern  States  have  settled  there. 

The  Province  of  Parana,  which  lies  just  south  of  that  of 
Sao  Paulo,  has  very  nearly  the  same  topographical  features, 
being  low  along  the  coast,  rising  more  or  less  steeply  to 
the  summit  of  the  plateau,  and  then  sloping  off  towards  the 
Parana  in  extensive  campinas.  The  capital  is  Curitiba, 
situated,  like  Sao  Paulo,  at  some  distance  west  of  the  edge 
of  the  plateau.  The  greater  part  of  the  country  is  covered 
by  heavy  forests,  though  in  the  northwest  there  are  extensive 
plains.  An  important  business  of  the  province  consists  in 
the  raising  of  cattle,  of  which  large  numbers  are  exported. 
Coffee,  cotton,  potatoes,  sugar-cane,  Indian  corn,  wheat,  veg 
etables  of  different  kinds,  <fec.,  are  cultivated  to  a  consider 
able  extent.  The  "  herva  mate"  or  matte  of  the  Brazilians, 
—  Ilex  paraguay  ensis,  or  Paraguayan  tea,  largely  grown  in 
the  Paraguayan  republic,  and  used  in  lieu  of  Chinese  tea, — 
is  grown  in  large  quantities  and  forms  an  article  of  export. 
Bousquet*  says  that  the  Chinese  tea  grows  well,  but  that  it 
is  not  as  yet  much  cultivated.  Tea  will  also  grow  at  Rio, 
Sao  Paulo,  and  elsewhere  in  the  south.  Bousquet  speaks 
of  the  vanilla  as  growing  spontaneously  in  the  vicinity  of 
Paranagua.  The  province  has  never  been  explored  by  a 
competent  modern  geologist.  It  is  just  possible,  as  admitted 

*  Note  sur  la  Province  de  Parana,  par  M.  Bousquet,  Bull,  dc  la  /Societe  de 
Geographic,  5me  Se'rie,  T.  9,  p.  528. 


518  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

by  Mr.  Plant,  that  coal  may  be  found  on  the  low  lands 
between  the  Serra  do  Mar,  or  Cubatao,  as  it  is  commonly 
called  in  Parana,  and  the  sea.  Bousquet  says  native  mer 
cury  occurs  near  Paranagua.  Gold  and  diamonds  are  found 
on  the  borders  of  the  Rio  Tibagy.* 

This  province,  like  Sao  Paulo,  is  well  watered  by  large 
streams.  Between  the  two  provinces  runs  the  Parana- 
panema,  on  the  west  is  the  Parana  and  to  the  south  the 
Uruguay,  while  the  Ivahy  and  Tibagy,  both  rivers  navigable 
for  canoes,!  run  through  the  province,  one  emptying  into 
the  Paranapanema  and  the  other  into  the  Parana.  The 
Parana  is  navigable  for  about  ninety  leagues  from  the  falls 
of  Urubupunga  in  the  Province  of  Goyaz  to  nearly  opposite 
the  Tiete  in  Sao  Paulo,  where  navigation  ends  at  the  island 
of  Sete  Qucdas.  The  Salto  Grande  on  the  Parand  is  de 
scribed  as  being  comparable  to  the  Caxoeira  de  Paulo 
Affonso. 

So  far  as  water  highways  are  concerned,  the  province  is 
well  furnished. 

There  is  a  little  Brazilian-French  colony,  called  Santa  The 
resa,  established  on  the  Ivahy,  and  another  colony  of  some 
five  hundred  inhabitants,  called  Supcraguy,  near  Paranagud, 
of  which  the  inhabitants  support  themselves  by  agriculture 
and  fishing. 

The  seaport  of  the  province  is  Paranagua,  a  considerable 
town,  situated  on  a  large  and  beautiful  bay  which  forms  an 
excellent  and  spacious  harbor. 

The  province  of  Santa  Catharina  lies  just  south  of  Paranft. 
It  is  one  of  the  most  fertile  of  the  provinces  of  Brazil,  and  is 

*  Olivcira,  Exploraqao  de  Mincraes,  p.  11. 

\  Vereker  "  On  Brazilian  Province  of  Parana,"  Jour.  Roy.  Geog.  Soc.,  Vol. 
XXXII.  p.  1.37. 


PROVINCES   SOUTH   OF   RIO.  519 

blessed  with  a  delightful  and  temperate  climate ;  but  except 
on  the  seacoast  it  is  not  well  settled,  and  the  population  is 
probably  not  more  than  150,000.  The  capital  is  Desterro,  a 
large  town,  delightfully  situated  on  the  western  side  of  the 
island  of  Santa  Catharina.  There  are  several  flourishing 
colonies  in  the  province. 

Between  the  edge  of  the  plateau  and  the  sea  there  exists 
in  Santa  Catharina  a  coal-basin,  in  which  along  the  banks 
of  the  Rio  Tuberao  beds  of  bituminous  coal  of  fair  quality 
are  exposed.  The  Visconde  de  Barbacena  is  interested  in 
the  development  of  this  region,  and  we  may  hope  erelong  to 
see  some  results  of  his  labors.  I  am  not  aware  that  any 
report  on  this  field  has  yet  been  published.  I  understand 
that  the  coal-beds  lie  quite  flat,  as  elsewhere  to  the  south. 
The  Province  of  Rio  Grande  do  Sul  is  the  most  south 
ern  of  Brazil,  lying  just  north  of  Uruguay,  and  situated  be 
tween  27°  50'  and  33°  45'  south  latitude.  Much  of  the 
country  is  hilly,  particularly  in  the  eastern  and  northern 
portions,  but  towards  the  west  and  south  it  consists  of  plains 
covered  with  herbs  and  forming  the  pasture-grounds  of  herds 
of  cattle.  The  northern  and  eastern  portion  is  more  or  less 
heavily  wooded.  The  interior  has  never,  so  far  as  I  can 
learn,  been  scientifically  explored,  and  I  am  unable  to  find 
any  reliable  description  of  its  physical  features. 

Of  the  geology  of  the  province  we  have  little  information 
except  with  reference  to  the  coal-mines. 

In  an  article  in  the  Quarterly  Journal  of  Science,  No.  11, 
1864,  Mr.  Edward  Hull  says  that  the  first  notice  of  the  coal 
deposits  of  the  Province  of  Rio  Grande  do  Sul  was  taken  by 
one  Guilherme  Bouleich  in  the  year  1859.  This  is  not  quite 
correct.*  In  May,  1858,  Dr.  Ave-Lallemant  visited  coal- 

*  The  real  discoverer  of  the  Brazilian  coal-fields  was  Dr.  Terigot,  of  Flush- 


520        GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL  GEOGRAPHY. 

mines  on  the  Arroio  dos  Ratos,  which  were  at  that  time 
worked  on  a  small  scale.  He  refers  to  an  examination  of 
the  locality  made  some  time  before  by  a  Bacharel  Vascon- 
cellos.*  Dr.  Lallemant  describes  two  horizontal  seams  of 
coal,  —  an  upper,  worked,  about  four  feet  thick  ;  a  few  feet 
below  this  seam  a  second  was  found  of  the  same  thickness. 
I  have  not  had  the  opportunity  of  examining  specimens  of 
this  coal ;  but  I  learn  that  it  is  a  fair  bituminous  variety,  with 
a  more  abundant  ash  than  the  English  coals  sent  to  Rio.  It 
has  been  in  use  some  ten  years  on  the  steamers  of  the  Com- 
panhia  Jacuhy,  and  has  been  found  more  economical  to 
employ  it  than  the  English  coal.  That  of  the  Arroio  dos 
Ratos  sells  for  138000- 171000  (86.50 -88.50  American 
currency)  per  ton,  which,  as  we  shall  presently  see  from  Mr. 
Plant's  report  on  the  Jaguarao  coal-field,  is  a  much  lower 
price  than  that  of  the  English  coals.  There  are  three  sep 
arate  coal-fields  in  the  Province  of  Rio  Grande  do  Sul,f 
all  of  which  Mr.  Nathaniel  Plant  has  studied  with  care. 
This  gentleman  informs  us  that  the  basins  are  separated 
from  one  another  by  rolling  hills  of  syenite,  mica-schist, 
and  granite,  together  with  trachytic  and  basaltic  rocks. 

The  largest  of  these  basins  is  situated  in  the  Jaguarao  and 
Candiota  valleys,  between  lat.  31°  and  32°  S.  and  long.  53° 
and  54°  E. 

ing,  Long  Island,  who  was  engaged  in  1841  by  the  Brazilian  government  to 
make  geological  observations  in  the  Empire.  This  gentleman  reported  the  ex 
istence  of  a  coal-field  in  Santa  Catharina,  some  three  hundred  miles  long  from 
north  to  south  and  twenty  to  thirty  miles  wide. 

*  Ave'-Lallemant,  Reise  durch  Siid-Brasilien  im  Jahre  1858,  Theil  I.  p.  478. 

t  The  Brazilian  Coal-Fields,  by  Nathaniel  Plant,  F.  R.  G.  S.,  &c.,  Geological 
Magazine,  Vol.  VI.  No.  4,  April,  18G9.  I  owe  a  copy  of  this  paper  to  the 
kindness  of  Mr.  Plant's  brother,  Mr.  John  Plant,  Curator  of  the  Royal  Museum 
of  Salford.  Much  credit  is  due  Mr.  Plant  for  his  long-continued  exertions  in 
working  out  the  structure  and  limits  of  these  coal-fields,  and  for  his  persistence 
in  endeavoring  to  bring  the  coal  into  market. 


PROVINCES   SOUTH   OF  RIO.  521 

Mr.  Plant  presented  Professor  Agassiz  in  1865  with  a 
short  description  of  this  coal-field,  together  with  specimens 
of  rocks,  fossils,  and  coals,  which  I  have  examined.  The  fos 
sils  are  of  true  and  characteristic  carboniferous  genera,  and 
no  doubt  can  exist  as  to  the  equivalency  of  the  deposits.* 
I  give  Mr.  Plant's  paper  in  full.f  One  of  the  photographs 
mentioned  I  have  had  engraved  as  a  frontispiece  to  this 
volume. 

I  may  add  that  Mr.  Plant  has  been  for  several  years  ex 
ploring  the  coal-basins  of  the  province  with  a  view  to  having 
them  worked  by  a  mining  company.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that 
his  efforts  may  be  abundantly  successful. 

Coal-Fields  of  the  River  Jaguarao,  and  its  Tributaries,  the  Rivers 
Candiota  and  Jaguardo-chico  in  the  Province  of  Rio  Grande  do 
Sul,  Brazil. 

The  coal-basin  of  the  river  Jaguarao  is  situated  in  the  southern 
part  of  the  province  of  Rio  Grande  do  Sul,  between  lat.  31° 
and  32°  S.,  and  long.  324°  and  325°  (French  meridian)  in  the 
valley  of  the  Jaguarao  and  its  tributaries,  the  rivers  Candiota 
and  Jaguarao-chico.  It  covers  an  area  of"  about  fifty  miles  by 
thirty,  its  greatest  diameter  being  from  north  to  south.  The  coal 
strata  which  the  geological  section  illustrates,  and  whence  the  ac 
companying  specimens  have  been  obtained,  and  the  thickness  of 
the  beds  determined,  are  exposed  in  an  elevated  escarpment  on  the 
banks  of  the  river  Candiota,  at  a  place  called  "  Serra  Partida,"  $ 
where  they  appear  in  the  following  order  of  superposition  :  — 

*  Strange  to  say,  that,  after  all  the  explorations  made  of  these  coal-fields,  their 
carboniferous  age  was  long  in  being  recognized.  Affonso  Mabildc,  in  a  report 
made  to  the  president  of  Rio  Grande  do  Sul,  says  that  the  coal  is  a  lignite  of 
tertiary  age. 

t  This  paper  also  appears  in  Fletcher's  work.  I  presume  Mr.  Plant  fur 
nished  him  with  a  duplicate  copy  of  the  MS. 

t  See  frontispiece,  which  is  engraved  from  a  photograph  presented  to  Pro 
fessor  Agassiz  by  Mr.  Plant. 


522 


113  ft. 


GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 
Soil  1  ft, 
1.  Ferruginous  sandstone,  28  ft. 


2.  Coal  shale,  9  ft. 

3.  Sandv  shale,  5  ft. 

4.  Coal,  8ft. 

6.  White  fossiliferous  shale,  5  ft. 

6.  Coal,  11  ft. 

7.  Parting  of  blue  clay. 

8.  Coal,  17  feet. 

9.  Fossiliferous  clay,  9  ft. 

10.  Coal,  25  ft. 


Thickness 

not 
determined. 


11.  Ironstone  shales  with  fossil  ferns. 

12.  Sandstone. 

13.  Limestone. 

14.  Mica- schist. 

15.  Metalliferous  limestone. 


No.  1.  The  uppermost  bed  is  composed  of  sandstone  of  a  highly 
ferruginous  nature,  resembling  in  its  appearance  the  "  Ore's 
Bigarre"  "  of  Europe  ;  it  contains  nodules  of  a  silicious  peroxide 
of  iron,  yielding  from  twenty-five  to  thirty-five  per  cent  of  metal. 
It  varies  considerably  in  its  thickness,  in  some  places  being  com 
pletely  worn  away,  and  in  others  attaining  a  depth  of  upwards 
of  two  hundred  feet.  Immediately  below  this  occurs  a  bed, 

No.  2,  of  coal-shale,  very  argillaceous,  and  perhaps  unfit  for  fuel ; 
it  possesses  a  thickness  of  nine  feet,  and  can  be  seen  cropping 
out  wherever  the  superincumbent  bed  has  been  denuded  ;  it 
rests  upon  a  bed, 

No.  3,  of  sandy-ochreous  shale  containing  septaria  of  an  ochreous 
oxide  of  iron,  which,  together  with  the  ironstone  found  in  the 
sandstone,  will,  in  all  probability,  be  turned  to  profitable  ac 
count  when  the  coal-beds  are  worked  ;  underneath  this  is, 

No.  4,  a  bed   of  bituminous   coal,  three  feet  thick.       The   min- 


PROVINCES   SOUTH   OF   RIO.  523 

eral,  although  it  leaves  a  high  percentage  of  ash,  will  be  found 
useful  in  smelting  the  iron  ores  from  the  interstratifying  beds ; 
and  there  is  every  reason  for  supposing  that  it  will  be  found 
of  a  better  quality  when  the  bed  is  fairly  worked.  The  samples 
tested  were  taken  from  very  near  the  surface,  which  may  in 
some  measure  account  for  its  apparent  impurity;  it  rests  on, 

No.  5,  a  bed  of  white  clay  or  schist,  containing  innumerable  im 
pressions  of  fossil  plants  (perhaps  aquatic),  the  general  appear 
ance  of  which  would  lead  one  to  conclude  that  these  carbonifer 
ous  deposits  belong  to  a  later  period  than  that  assigned  to  the 
coal-measures  of  England  and  the  United  States,  were  such  a  con 
clusion  not  confuted  by  the  fossil  ferns  found  in  the  other  inter- 
stratifying  shales ;  it  has  a  thickness  of  five  feet,  and  overlies  a, 

No.  6,  bed  of  good  coal  eleven  feet  thick.  This  coal  resembles 
very  much  in  its  appearance  the  Newcastle,  and  may  be  traced 
for  many  miles  along  the  banks  of  the  river  Candiota,  sometimes 
forming  the  bed  of  that  river  and  of  the  small  streams  falling 
into  it ;  it  is  separated  from  another  seam  by  a  thin  parting, 

No.  7,  of  blue  clay. 

No.  8.  The  coal  of  the  lower  bed  appears  to  be  even  of  a  better 
quality  than  the  one  above ;  it  has  a  clean,  shining  fracture, 
and  in  some  places  thin  seams  of  pure  cannel-coal  may  be 
traced  along  the  bed.  It  is  highly  inflammable,  boiling  up 
like  oil  during  combustion.  This  coal  has  been  used  as  fuel 
in  various  ways  with  marked  success.  It  has  been  tried  on 
the  steamers  navigating  the  Lagos  dos  Patos  in  the  province 
of  Rio  Grande,  and  although  it  left  a  greater  portion  of  ash 
than  the  Cardiff  coal,  it  was  found  to  be  a  good  caking  coal,  and 
served  every  purpose  of  a  steam  fuel.  Below  this  is  another  bed, 

No.  9,  of  blue  clay,  containing  vestiges  of  fossil  plants ;  in  everything 
else  it  is  similar  to  the  upper  bed  of  the  same  mineral.  It 
reposes  on, 

No.  10,  the  thickest  seam  of  coal  exposed  in  the  escarpment  at 
the  Serra  Partida.  This  is  the  lowest  bed  of  coal  exposed  in 


524  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

any  part  of  the  coal-fields  of  Candiota,  but,  in  all  probability, 
other  beds  will  be  found  nearer  to  the  centre  of  the  basin,  or 
this,  as  well  as  the  incumbent  beds,  may  become  thicker,  judg 
ing  from  the  fact  that  all  the  beds  appear  to  thicken  as  they 
approach  the  middle  of  the  valley  of  the  river  Jaguarao.  The 
great  thickness  (twenty-five  feet),  the  good  and  homogeneous 
character  of  the  seam,  are  important  features  in  this  coal-field. 
.The  mineral  (although  taken  from  near  the  decomposed  face  of 
the  cliff  on  the  river  Candiota)  was  found  to  leave  even  less  ash 
than  that  from  the  seam  above.  It  has  frequently  been  used 
on  steamers  with  the  same  success  as  that  obtained  from  New 
castle  coal.  The  coke  obtained  from  this  coal  by  Mr.  W.  G. 
Ginty  of  the  Rio  Gas  Works  (vide  Mr.  Ginty's  report)  was  even 
better  than  that  derived  from  Newcastle  coal.  It  overlies  a  bed, 
No.  11,  of  ironstone  shale,  which,  in  a  scientific  point  of  view, 
is  the  most  important  deposit  of  the  coal-measures  of  the 
Jaguarao,  from  the  fact  of  its  containing  impressions  of  or 
ganic  remains,  by  which  the  geological  age  of  the  coal-beds 
can  be  determined  ;  the  fossil  plants  found  embedded  in  this 
shale  all  belong  to  the  same  genera  as  those  which  charac 
terize  the  coal-fields  of  Britain  and  the  United  States,  the 
most  abundant  belonging  to  the  genera  Lepidodendron  *  and 

*  Three  species  of  plants  have  been  described  by  Mr.  W.  Carruthers,  viz. :  — 

Flemingites  Pedroanus  CARRUTHERS.   Geol.  Mag.,  Vol.  VI.  No.  4,  p.  5,  PI.  P.  V. 

"  Stem  lepidodendroid,  scars  small,  obovate,  without  any  markings ;  base  of 
the  petiole  permanently  attached  to  the  stem ;  leaf  slender,  linear.  Fruit  a 
cone  (?)  the  scales  of  which  support  numerous  sporangia." 

The  stems  of  this  plant  at  first  sight  resemble  those  of  some  species  of 
Lepidodtndron ;  but  they  may  be  readily  distinguished  from  Lepidodendron  by 
the  character  of  the  scars,  which  never  show  any  impression  from  articulating 
surfaces.  Associated  with  the  stems  and  leaves  of  this  species  are  found  in  great 
abundance  minute  flattened  bodies  which  Mr.  Carruthers  considers  to  be  the 
sporangia  of  the  plant  under  consideration. 

Odontopteris  Plantiana  CARRUTHERS.     Loc.  cit,  p.  9,  PI.  V.  Figs.  2  &  3. 

"  Pinnules  broad  at  the  base,  irregularly  lobed,  obtuse  at  the  apex ;  basal 


PROVINCES   SOUTH   OF   RIO.  525 

Glossopteris ;  others  have  been  recognized  as  being  similar 
to  the  ferns  found  in  the  very  oldest  secondary  rocks,  thus 
leaving  no  uncertainty  as  to  the  true  carboniferous  charac 
ter  of  the  coal-measures  of  the  river  Candiota.  This  seam  is 
very  prolific  of  fossils,  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  when 
these  immense  beds  of  mineral  treasure  are  worked  many  new 
and  interesting  forms  of  vegetable  life  will  be  brought  to  light 
to  enrich  our  knowledge  of  the  coal-fields  of  the  Southern 
hemisphere.  The  ironstone  shale  is  very  rich  in  metal,  and 
will  doubtless  be  worked  as  an  iron  ore  when  the  mines  are 
opened.  Below  this  there  occurs  another  bed, 

No.  12,  of  sandstone,  similar  in  all  respects  to  the  uppermost  bed. 
After  which  is  a  bed, 

No.  13,  of  fine  crystalline  limestone,  containing  small  fragments 
of  graphite,  disseminated  throughout  the  mass.  It  is  trav 
ersed  also  by  veins  of  a  very  pure  carbonate  of  lime  in  the  form 
of  double-refracting  spar,  which,  in  some  places,  attain  a  con 
siderable  thickness.  This  limestone  will  not  only  be  of  immense 
value  for  manufacturing  into  lime,  but  also  as  a  flux  in  smelt 
ing  the  iron  ores.  The  three  things  essential  for  the  erection  of 
smelting-works  are  thus  found  in  the  same  district  interstratified 
with  each  other  :  the  ore,  the  fuel,  and  the  flux,  all  of  the  very 
first  quality,  —  a  combination  of  mineral  riches  (only  waiting  for 
the  hand  of  man  to  realize  them)  scarcely  to  be  found  together 
in  one  spot  in  any  other  part  of  the  globe.  Evidently, 

No.  14,  the  two  lowest  beds  of  these  coal-measures  are  mica-schist, 

No.  15,  and  another  limestone  rock  of  a  very  dark  and  compact 

pinnules  large,  much  and  irregularly  lobed  ;  nerves  arcuately  parallel,  dichoto- 
mous." 

Nceggerathia  obovata  CARRUTHERS.     Loc.  cit..,  p.  9,  PI.  VI.  Fig.  1. 

"  Frond  sessile,  flat,  entire,  elongate  obovate,  attenuated  towards  the  base ; 
nerves  dividing  dichotomously,  parallel." 

I  have  seen  Catamites  and  a  Sphenophms  (n.  sp.)  in  specimens  of  coal  shale 
from  one  of  south  Brazilian  coal-fields  ;  but  the  labels  having  been  lost,  I  have 
been  unable  to  determine  the  exact  locality. —  C.  F.  H. 


526  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

nature.     It  is  scarcely  possible  to  determine  which  is  the  lower 
most,  as  in  some  places  the  mica-schist  *  is  seen  lying  on  the 
syenite  which  surrounds  the  coal-basin,  and  in  others  the  lime 
stone  ;  the  name  of  "  metalliferous  limestone  "  has  been  given 
it,   owing  to  the  innumerable  crystals  and  thin  veins  of  sul- 
phuret  of  iron  which  appear  in  it.     In  all  probability  other 
metalliferous  veins  will  be  found  in  this  limestone. 
Nearly  the  whole  of  the  coal-basin  of  the  valley  of  the  Jaguarao 
is  enclosed  by  syenitic  hills  of  from  two  hundred  to  three  hun 
dred  feet  high  ;    the  sides  towards  the  coal-field  slope  gently  down 
wards  till  they  disappear  under  the  sandstone  overlying  the  coal ; 
on  the  other  side  the  syenite,  after  presenting  an  uneven  and  undu 
lating  aspect  for  some  three  or  four  leagues,  gradually  subsides 
into  an  even  country,  which  continues  on  almost  perfectly  plain  f  till 
the  seaport  city  of  Rio  Grande  do  Sul  is  reached,  so  that  the  com 
pany  (already  formed  for  making  the  survey  for  a  railway  to  carry 
the  mineral  riches  of  the  valley  of  the  Jaguarao  down  to  a  seaport, 
where  the  coal  can  be  shipped  to  the  different  ports  along  the  coast 
of  Brazil,  and  the  River  Plate)  will  find  no  difficulty  in  discover 
ing  a  route  along  which  a  cheap  line  of  rails  can  be  laid  down. 

The  photographic  views  of  the  different  escarpments  in  which 
the  coal-beds  are  shown  along  the  river  Candiota  will  show  the 
great  facilities  afforded  for  working  the  coal  in  almost  any  part  of 
the  basin  by  open  cuttings.  Tramways  can  be  laid  down  branch 
ing  off  in  different  directions  from  the  main  trunk  line,  along 
which  the  coal-wagons  can  be  run  right  into  the  seams  of  coal, 
thereby  rendering  the  sinking  of  expensive  shafts  quite  unneces 
sary. 

The  general  dip  of  the  beds  is  from  5°  to  10°  S.  "W.,  and  in  no 
place  are  there  signs  of  subsequent  upheavals  or  dislocations  of 

*  The  mica-schist  is  without  doubt  much  older  than  the  carboniferous. — 
C.  F.  H. 

t  Mr.  Hull  speaks  of  a  gently  sloping  plane  of  basalt  stretching  from  the 
coal-mines  toward  the  port  ou  the  Rio  Gon9alo.  (Quarterly  Journal  of  Science, 
No.  11,  April,  1864.) 


PROVINCES   SOUTH   OF   RIO.  527 

strata  visible,  so  that  very  little  obstruction  will  be  met  with  in 
carrying  the  tramways  along  the  seams  as  the  working  of  them 
goes  forwards. 

It  is  almost  unnecessary  to  dwell  upon  the  immense  value  of 
these  coal  deposits  as  a  commercial  enterprise,  when  it  has  been 
already  ascertained,  by  a  "running  survey"  of  the  country  be 
tween  the  seaport  of  Rio  Grande  do  Sul  and  the  coal-mines  of 
Candiota,  that  in  all  probability  the  coal  will  be  delivered  on 
board  vessels  lying  in  the  port  of  Rio  Grande  at,  perhaps,  less  than 
7$000  per  ton,  where  it  is  at  the  present  moment  being  sold  at 
24$000  ;  and  as  soon  as  a  bill  is  passed  allowing  vessels  of  all 
nations  to  trade  between  the  Brazilian  ports,  there  will  be  no  lack 
of  enterprising  shipowners  to  carry  the  Rio  Grande  coal  to  Rio  de 
Janeiro — in  which  port  alone  the  enormous  amount  of  180,000  tons 
of  coal  are  annually  imported  —  for  a  price  which  will  enable  the 
coal-mining  company  to  sell  the  Candiota  coal  in  the  market  of 
the  capital  of  the  Brazilian  Empire  for  about  15$000  per  ton,  — 
a  price  which  will  annihilate  any  competition  from  foreign  mar 
kets,  seeing  that  the  foreign  coal  is  seldom  sold  for  less  than 
22$000  per  ton. 

The  consumption  of  coal  in  the  river  Plate  is  perhaps  as  great 
as  that  of  Rio  de  Janeiro,  and  the  facilities  for  supplying  the 
markets  of  Buenos  Ayres  and  Montevideo  from  the  coal-mines  of 
the  river  Candiota  are  still  greater  than  those  for  supplying  Rio. 
The  coal  can  be  sent  from  the  mines,  put  on  board  colliers,  and  de 
livered  in  Montevideo  in  three  or  four  days,  at  about  half  the 
cost  of  delivering  the  same  article  in  Rio,  which  is  a  market  where 
coal  is  never  less  than  fifteen  dollars  per  ton  (or  30$000). 

The  consumption  of  coal  along  the  Brazilian  coast  and  in  the 
River  Plate  increases  yearly,  and  in  all  probability  it  will  be 
found,  after  the  coal-mines  of  Candiota  have  been  opened  for  a  few 
years,  that  a  single  line  of  railway  will  not  be  found  sufficient  to 
carry  the  supply  of  coal  to  meet  the  increasing  demands. 

NATHANIEL  PLANT. 
Rio  DE  JANEIRO,  20th  July,  1865. 


528  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

Report  on  the  Candiota  Coal  by  W.  G.  Ginty,  Engineer-in-Chief  of 
the  Rio  de  Janeiro  Gas  Works. 

MB.  NATHANIEL  PLANT  :  — 

DEAR  SIB,  —  I  have  received  and  examined  your  samples  of 
Brazilian  coal  from  Candiota  with  great  interest,  and  I  am  glad  to 
be  able  to  congratulate  you  on  its  really  good  quality. 

The  samples  you  sent  me  were  too  small  for  complete  and  satis 
factory  analysis  in  the  apparatus  at  my  disposal.  I  found  also 
that  the  samples  varied  a  good  deal  in  appearance  and  quality. 
This  has  arisen,  no  doubt,  from  their  having  been  obtained  from 
various  positions  on  the  nearly  perpendicular  face  of  the  immense 
stratum,  and  from  variable  -periods  of  exposure,  as,  owing  to  the 
crumbling  away  or  disintegration  of  pieces  under  the  incessant 
action  of  the  weather,  these  samples  may  have  been  exposed  for 
periods  varying  from  each  other  as  seconds  do  from  centuries. 

The  Candiota  coal  resembles  the  Newcastle  steam-coal  (which 
comes  to  this  market  at  least)  very  much  in  structure,  cleavage, 
and  general  appearance,  nor  does  it  differ  very  much  from  New 
castle  coal  in  its  useful  properties,  except  that  it  contains  more 
than  double  the  quantity  of  ash,  which  is  detrimental  to  its  heat 
ing  powers ;  but  this  objection  is  likely  enough  to  disappear  alto 
gether  in  samples  from  the  deeper  parts  of  the  mine. 

The  coke  from  the  Candiota  coal  is,  however,  very  different 
in  appearance  from  that  of  the  Newcastle  coal,  and  resembles  the 
coke  of  (what  is  sold  here  as)  Cardiff  coal  in  its  silvery-colored 
laminations. 

Some  of  this  Candiota  coal,  however,  especially  that  of  the 
lower  seam  is  very  friable,  and  is  evidently  what  is  called  caking 
coal ;  that  is,  it  boils  or  becomes  molten  during  the  process  of 
carbonization.  However,  all  the  qualities  of  the  coke  from  the 
Candiota  coal  are  very  good. 

As  you  say  the  dip  or  inclination  of  the  seams  or  strata  of 
this  Candiota  coal  is  5°  from  the  plane  of  the  horizon,  I  think  it 
most  reasonable  to  presume  that  a  much  finer,  more  compact,  and 


PROVINCES   SOUTH    OF   RIO.  529 

equable  quality  of  coal  may  be  calculated  upon  at  lower  depths. 
5°  is  a  gradient  of  1  in  11.4  or  8.77  per  cent,  or  462  feet  per  mile. 
Thus  in  such  an  immense  field  as  you  have  described  to  me  there 
is  ample  margin  for  obtaining  other  than  surface  coal,  which  for 
obvious  reasons  in  Brazil,  as  elsewhere,  cannot  be  as  pure,  as  com 
pact,  or  as  uniform  in  quality  as  that  obtained  at  great  depths.  I 
shall  watch  the  prosecution  of  your  explorations  in  this  direction 
with  great  interest. 

The  following  are  the  results  of  my  examinations  (as  far  as  they 
went)  on  the  Candiota  coal,  the  samples  of  Newcastle,  Cardiff, 
and  Wigan  cannel,  with  which  it  is  compared  below,  having  been 
tried  at  the  same  time  in  the  same  apparatus :  — 

Specific  Per  Cubic  feet  Illuminating 

Gravity.  Cent  of  Gas            Power  in 

Water          of  per  Ton           Standard 

1,000.  Coke.  Candles. 

Candiota  coal  (mean  of  three  quantities)  1,240  63         6,900              5.00 

"           "     Lower  seam     ....  1,230  60         8,198               5.80 

Newcastle 1,250  62 

Cardiff       1,275  80 

Gas,  or  Cannel  Coal  (Case  and  Morris)  1,240  62        9,600            20.50 

From  the  appearance  of  the  lower  seam  I  do  not  despair  of 
your  finding  a  good  gas  coal  for  us  in  the  Candiota  district,  and 
thus  freeing  the  Brazilian  gas  companies  from  the  fearful  tax  they 
have  to  pay  in  the  shape  of  freights  from  England,  amounting 
to  from  200  to  300  per  cent  on  the  value  of  the  materia  prima.  I 
send  you  labelled  samples  of  the  different  qualities  of  coke  above 
referred  to.  I  remain  your  obedient  servant, 

(Signed)  W.  G.  GINTY,  Mem.  Inst,  C.  E., 

Engineer  Rio  de  Janeiro  Gas  Company. 

Mr.  Plant  describes  a  second  coal-basin  exposed  in  the 
valley  of  one  of  the  tributaries  of  the  Rio  Jacuahy,  called 
the  Sao  Sepe*,  in  lat.  30°  20',  long.  53°  30'. 

There  are  two  beds  of  coal  exposed  in  this  basin,  one 
fourteen,  the  other  seven  feet  in  thickness.  The  sandstone 
beds  overlying  these  veins  are  disturbed  and  overflowed  by 

VOL.    I.  23  HH 


530  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

trachytic  eruptions.  The  area  of  this  basin,  so  far  as  is 
known,  is  about  fifteen  miles. 

Near  the  town  of  Sao  Jeronymo,  on  the  banks  of  the 
Jacuahy,  is  a  third  coal-basin,  situated  in  lat.  30°,  long.  51° 
80'.  At  a  depth  of  fifty-seven  feet  below  the  surface  there 
is  at  this  locality  a  bed  of  highly  bituminous  coal  six  feet  in 
thickness.  This  is  underlaid  by  a  bed  of  ironstone  shale 
with  fossils  like  those  so  common  at  Candiota.  Several 
other  coal-beds  of  from  two  to  six  feet  in  thickness,  and 
interstratified  with  clay  and  ironstone,  have  been  passed 
through  by  the  shafts  of  the  mines,  which  have  reached  a 
depth  of  one  hundred  and  eighty-three  feet. 

Since  the  foregoing  was  sent  to  press  I  have  had  the  op 
portunity  of  examining  the  valuable  paper  of  Weiss  on  the 
collections  made  by  Sellow  in  Southern  Brazil.* 

I  regret  that  want  of  space  prevents  my  giving  a  short 
abstract  of  this  paper.  I  confine  myself,  therefore,  to  a 
quotation  from  the  introduction.! 

"  On  the  30th  degree  of  south  latitude,"  says  Weiss,  "  there  ex 
tends  from  the  sea  in  a  direction  west  a  few  degrees  south  (in  der 
7ten  Stunde  J)  obliquely  into  the  country  for  more  than  5°  of 
latitude  a  range  of  hills  of  '  basalt,'  that  is  of  amygdaloid  and 
black  porphyry  or  melaphyr,  §  but  nowhere  is  the  rock  true 
basalt. 

*  Uber  dan  siidliche  Ende  des  Gebirr/szufjcs  von  Brasilien  in  der  Provinz  S. 
Pedro  do  Sul  und  der  Banda  Oriental  oder  dem  Staate  ron  Monte  Video ;  nach 
den  Sammlungen  des  Ilerrn  Fr.  Sellow,  Abhandlungen  dor  Koniglichen  Akade- 
mie  der  Wissenschaften,  zu  Berlin,  aus  dem  Jahre  1827. 

t  Loc.  cit.,  p.  222. 

J  The  German  miner's  compass,  according  to  Gehler's  Phyrikalifchet  Wb'rter- 
buch  (see  article  on  Compass)  was  divided  from  north  to  south  and  south  to 
north  into  twelve  hours  (Stunden)  instead  of  degrees. 

§  Melaphyr  is  the  name  given  by  Von  Buch  to  a  species  of  porphyry  found 


PROVINCES   SOUTH   OF  RIO.  531 

"  On  the  southern  side  of  its  round  and  roof-shaped  hills  lies 
the  valley  of  the  Guaiba  or  Jacuy,  with  Porto  Alegre  at  the  junc 
tion  of  four  rivers  with  the  Lake  Viamao.  Nearer  the  Uruguay  it 
slopes  to  the  west,  but  even  there  it  is  united  with  a  range  of  the 
same  character  extending  southward  (in  der  12ten  Stunden)  sepa 
rating  the  head-waters  of  the  Ibicuy  from  those  of  the  Caavera, 
forming  between  the  Caavera,  Ibirapuitam  Grande  and  Ibirapuitam 
Chico  considerable  ridges,  and  when  it  turns  to  the  west  toward 
Salto  Grande  it  sends  streams  southward  to  the  Daiman  and  Rio 
Negro,  northward  into  the  Arapey,  Quaraim  and  Ibirapuitam. 
This  chain  of  amygdaloid  is  the  source  of  the  great  quantities  of 
chalcedonies,  agates,  carnelians,  rock-crystals,  and  amethysts  which 
cover  the  banks  of  Uruguay  downward  below  the  Rio  Negro. 
These  uniting  chains  divide  the  country  in  a  natural  manner  into 
a  northern  and  southern  half,  while  farther  south  there  is  no 
mountain-chain,  as  formerly  supposed,  to  form  the  boundary  be 
tween  the  Portuguese  and  Spanish  possessions.  The  amygdaloid 
formation  is  probably  continued  on  the  Uruguay  above,  since  it 
forms  reefs  and  cliffs  on  the  river  at  Salto  Grande  and  Salto  Chico, 
as  well  as  fourteen  leagues  farther  up  at  the  Capella  de  Belem,  and 
among  others  the  map  of  Nunez  gives  just  above  the  Saltos  Grande 
and  Chico  a  '  Monte  Grande  del  Monteil.'  On  the  slope  of  the 
amygdaloid  formation  there  is  spread  an  extensive  clayey  sandstone 
formation  extending  into  the  country,  and  it  ascends  to  the  foot 
of  the  granite  coast  mountains.  It  is  certainly  very  young,  and 
much  younger  than  was  supposed  by  one  traveller  (Sellow),  who 
referred  it  principally  to  the  Permian  (Rothliegende).  From  its 
character  as  well  as  its  situation,  it  is  extremely  probable,  not  to 
say  certain,  that  it  is  tertiary,  and  may  be  provisionally  referred 
by  us  to  the  Molasse  or  Braunkohlen  sandstone." 

in  the  Alps.  The  ground  mass  is  black  or  blackish  gray  with  embedded  crystals 
of  Labradorite  (?)  and  Augite,  with  occasionally  mica,  hornblende,  and  pyrites. 
Sometimes  it  becomes  amygdaloidal.  See  Meluphyr  in  Handworterbuch  der 
reinen  und  anrjewandten  Ckemie. 


532  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 

THE     GOLD-MINES    OF    BRAZIL.* 

Geological  Distribution  of  Gold  in  Brazil.  —  Gold  in  Gneiss,  at  Jaragua,  Can- 
tagallo,  Pianco,  and  elsewhere.  —  The  richest  Deposits  found  in  Veins 
traversing  Clay  Slates.  —  Character  of  Auriferous  Quartz.  —  Granular 
Quartz,  or  Caco.  —  Gold  when  associated  with  Sulphides  rarely  visible.  — 
The  auriferous  Iron  Ore,  Jacutinga.  —  Gold-Mines  of  Sao  Joao  d'El-Rei. 
—  The  Morro  Velho  Mine,  Mode  of  Occurrence  of  the  Gold,  Method  of 
Extraction,  Yield,  &c.  —  The  Congo  Socco  Mine.  —  The  Rossa  Grande 
Gold-Mining  Company.  —  Mines  at  Morro  do  Santa  Anna,  Congonhas  do 
Campo,  Sao  Vicente,  Cata  Branca.  —  The  Gold-Mines  of  Brazil  not  yet  fairly 
developed. 

THE  gold  of  Brazil  f  occurs  in  the  ancient  metamorphic 
rocks,  and  in  drift  gravels  and  clays,  and  alluvial  sands  and 
gravels  derived  from  the  wear  of  these  rocks. 

The  eozoic  gneiss  of  the  coast-belt  furnishes  gold  at 
numerous  localities  along  its  whole  extent.  $  The  mines  of 

*  In  this  chapter  I  have  not  tried  to  treat  exhaustively  of  this  subject.  I 
have  endeavored  rather  to  present  such  facts  as  will  enable  the  reader  to  obtain  a 
fair  idea  of  the  mode  of  occurrence  of  gold  in  Brazil,  and  of  the  character  of 
the  mines.  A  great  amount  has  been  written  on  the  gold-fields  of  Brazil,  but 
it  is  for  the  most  part  lacking  in  scientific  accuracy,  and  much  of  it  has  rather 
tended  to  obscure  than  throw  light  upon  their  real  structure. 

t  For  a  short  and  interesting  sketch  of  the  early  history  of  gold-mining  in 
Minas  Geraes,  see  Burmeister's  Reise  in  Brasilien,  p.  590,  "  Zur  Geschichte  der 
Goldminen  und  ilirer  ersten  Entdeckung."  Consult  also  Von  Eschwege's  Pluto 
Brasiliensis,  and  Mawe's  "  Travels  in  the  Interior  of  the  Brazils."  Spix  and 
Martius,  St.  Hilaire,  Castelnau,  and  almost  all  writers  on  the  interior  of  Brazil, 
have  had  more  or  less  to  say  about  the  gold-mines. 

J  I  think  that  the  auriferous  deposits  occur  in  the  upper  part  of  the  gneiss 


THE   GOLD-MINES   OF   BRAZIL.  533 

Jaragua  in  Sao  Paulo,  of  Cantagallo  in  Rio  de  Janeiro,  and 
of  one  of  the  tributaries  of  the  Itapemerim,  are  among  the 
most  important  in  this  region.  Gold  also  occurs  in  the 
gneiss  of  the  Mucury  Basin  and  in  the  north,  as  at  Pianco. 
Over  this  whole  region  the  gold  is  found  rather 'sparingly, 
and  appears  to  be  derived  from  the  quartz  veins  traversing 
the  gneiss ;  but  the  only  instance  I  know  of  where  gold  has 
been  extracted  from  a  quartz  vein  in  the  gneiss-belt  is  the 
mines  on  the  Rio  Bruscus  in  Parahyba.  With  this  excep 
tion  mining  has  been  confined  entirely  to  the  washing  of  the 
cascalho  *  underlying  the  drift-clays,  and  of  the  gravels  and 
sands  of  the  rivers.  These  washings  have  all  been  aban 
doned.  Between  the  coast  gneiss-belt  and  the  sea  I  know 
of  no  auriferous  deposits,  but  in  very  numerous  localities  in 
the  interior  of  the  country  the  newer  metamorphic  rocks  are 
rich  in  gold. 

The  formations  affording  most  gold  are  clay  slates  trav 
ersed  by  auriferous  quartz  lodes,  the  itacolumite  rock  which 
is  also  veined  with  auriferous  quartz,  and  certain  iron  ores 
variously  known  under  the  names  of  Itabirite  and  Jacu- 
tinga.f  All  these  formations  are,  I  believe,  of  lower  silu- 
rian  age. 

In  the  clay  slates  the  quartz  veins  sometimes  show  free 

series.  According  to  Mr.  Wall,  "  Geology  of  a  Part  of  Venezuela,"  Quart.  Jour. 
Geol.  Soc.,  Vol.  XVI.,  p.  460,  gold  is  found  disseminated  in  gneiss  near  Valen 
cia,  Venezuela.  Gold  occurs  in  the  gneisses  of  the  Itacama  Mountains.  (Tatc.) 

*  The  auriferous  cascalho  of  Brazil  is  quite  a  different  thing  from  the  cascajo 
of  Venezuela.  The  Spanish  word  has  the  same  derivation  as  the  Portuguese, 
but  according  to  Mr.  Lc  Neve  Foster,  it  is  applied  in  the  Caratal  gold-field  to  a 
decomposed  schist,  on  which  the  pay-dirt  rests. 

t  This  term  is  derived  from  two  Tnpi  words,  —  Jacu,  a  kind  of  bird  ( Penelope] , 
and  tinga,  white.  The  name  was  given  to  the  rock  because  of  its  resemblance 
in  color  to  the  feathers  of  the  above  bird.  Sometimes  foreigners  spell  it  jaco- 
tinga,  which  is  not  correct. 


534  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

gold  with  very  little  pyrites  associated.  The  auriferous 
quartz  varies  much  in  character.  Sometimes  it  is  compact 
and  milky,  at  others,  as  at  the  Cata  Branca  mines,  it  is  very 
granular  and  sugary.  A  specimen  of  vein-quartz  with  gold, 
from  the  mine  of  Sao  Vicente  in  Minas  Geraes  in  the 
Museum  of  Comparative  Zoology,  is  composed  for  the  most 
part  of  clear,  colorless  quartz  in  rather  coarse  granules, 
giving  to  the  rock  the  appearance  of  a  pure  quartz  sand 
stone,  or  of  white  lump  sugar  ;  *  but  in  the  same  specimen 
the  quartz  passes  into  a  more  compact  rock,  which  has  a 
bluish  look. 

In  the  quartz  veins,  as  elsewhere  the  case,  the  rock  is  not 
all  auriferous,  but  the  gold  runs  in  streaks.  The  Sao  Vicente 
specimen  above  described  shows  well-marked  streaks,  rich 
in  free  gold,  which  appear  to  have  run  parallel  with  the  side 
of  the  lode. 

Where  the  vein  rock  is  rich  in  sulphides  the  gold  is,  as 
a  rule,  not  visible,  but  intimately  mixed  with  the  rock. 
This  is  the  case  at  Morro  Velho.  The  sulphides  consist  of 
magnetic  iron  pyrites,  which  is  the  most  abundant  and 
yields  a  little  gold  ;  common  iron  pyrites  is  less  abundant, 
and  gives  more  gold  ;  and  the  mispickel  or  arsenical  iron 
pyrites,  which  is  the  principal  gold-bearer. 

Of  the  ferruginous  auriferous  deposits  none  is  more  inter 
esting  than  the  so-called  jacutinga  formation.  Heusser  and 
Claraz  f  say  that  the  jacutinga  is  a  pulverulent  variety  of 

*  This  sugary  quartz  goes  in  Brazil  by  the  name  of  Cacd. 
I  Heusser  and  Claraz,  Ann.  des  Mines,  Tome  XVII.  p.  290  :  — 
"  L'itabirite  est  simplement  une  varie'te  de  fer  oligiste  schisteux  qtti  est  ac- 
compagne'e  de  quartz  et  de  mica.     Elle  presente  quelquefois  des  couches  puis- 
santes  et  tres-e'tendues  qui  peuvent  etre  exploite'es  comme  minerai  de  fer.    Quand 
elle  est  pulverulente,  on  la  de'signe  sous  le  nom  de  jacotinga." 


THE   GOLD-MINES   OF   BRAZIL.  535 

Itabirite,  a  name  given  by  Von  Eschwege  *  to  a  rock  com 
posed  of  micaceous  specular  iron  ore,  compact  specular 
iron,  rarely  laminated,  a  little  oxide  of  iron  and  quartz  dis 
seminated.  It  is  the  rock  of  which  the  Peak  of  Itabira 
and  the  Serra  da  Piedade  are  composed. 

Burton  describes  the  jacutinga  as  follows  :  f  "  This  sub 
stance,  of  iron  black  with  metallic  lustre,  sparkles  in  the 
sun  with  silvery  mica ;  the  large  pieces  often  appear  of  a 
dark  reddish  brown,  but  they  crumble  to  a  powder  almost 
black.  The  constituents  are  micaceous  iron-schist,  and 
friable  quartz  mixed  with  specular  iron,  oxide  of  manganese, $ 

and  fragments  of  talc The  floor  rock  at  Cocaes  is 

fine  micaceous  peroxide  of  iron  (specular  iron),  thin  and 

tabular Much  of  the  jacutinga  is  foliated 

It  shows  great  differences  of  consistency  ;  some  of  it  is 
hard  and  compact  as  hasmatite,  and  this  must  be  stamped 
like  quartz.  In  parts  it  feels  soapy  and  greasy,  not  harder 
than  fuller's  earth ;  it  is  easily  wetted  and  pulverized,  but 
it  is  hard  to  dry." 

Gardner  describes  the  jacutinga  as  a  soft  friable  greenish- 
colored,  micaceous  iron-schist.  § 

The  gold  of  the  jacutinga  is  free.  Castelnau  ||  says,  that 
at  Gongo  Soco  it  is  always  confined  to  a  little  vein  which 
winds  about  in  the  rock.  This  is  never  more  than  five  to 

*  "  Itabirit,  —  Eisenglimmer,  Eisenglanz,  meist  dichter,  auch  blattriger,  hin 
und  wieder  magnetischcr  Eisenstein  und  wenig  Quarz  erschcinen  entweder  als 
festes,  dichtes  Gcstein,  oder  haben  ein  Kornigschiefriges  Gefiige."  —  VON  ESCH 
WEGE,  Geognostisches  Gemalde  von  Brasilien,  28st*  Seite. 

t  Burton,  Vol.  I.  p.  301. 

t  Castelnau  speaks  of  the  occurrence  of  manganese  in  the  jacutinga  of  Gongo 
Soco. 

§  Travels  in  Brazil,  p.  373. 

||   Op.  cit.,  p.  246. 


536  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

seven  millimetres  in  width,  and  sometimes  it  is  as  thin  as  a 
hair  ;  it  contains  much  manganese. 

In  the  gold  region  is  found  an  auriferous  superficial  de 
posit  of  broken  fragments  of  ferruginous  rocks  cemented 
together,  and  called  Tapanhoacanga  or  canga* 

I  have  already  described  in  previous  chapters  the  mode 
of  occurrence  of  gold  in  the  drift  gravels  and  clays,  and  in 
the  sands  and  gravels  of  the  river  bottoms. 

With  these  introductory  words,  let  us  now  examine  some 
of  the  more  noteworthy  gold-mines  of  Brazil. 

At  Sao  Joao  d'El-Rei  and  Sao  Jose,  situated  a  few  miles 
west  of  Barbacena,  on  the  Rio  das  Mortes,  are  auriferous 
deposits  formerly  worked  for  many  years  with  great  profit. 
In  1830  an  English  company  called  the  "  Sao  Joao  d'El- 
Rei  Mining  Company  "  was  formed,  and  these  mines  were 
leased ;  but  in  1834  it  was  found  that  they  were  unprofit 
able,  and  they  were  abandoned.  Captain  Burton  says  the 
gold  was  principally  obtained  from  a  lode,  which  however  he 
does  not  describe.  The  jacutinga  formation  is  said  to  occur 
here. 

The  country  over  a  very  large  area  in  the  vicinity  of  Ouro 
Preto  is  very  auriferous,  and  here  are  situated  the  richest 
gold-mines  of  the  empire. 

The  gold  occurs  primarily  in  quartz  veins  traversing 
various  metamorphic  rocks,  such  as  clay-slate,  mica-slate, 
iron-schists,  &c.,  and  also  disseminated  through  the  rock  in 
some  places  ;  and  secondarily  it  is  found  widely  distributed 
in  drift  and  alluvial  sands  and  gravels. 

The  celebrated  Morro  Velho  mine  is  situated  on  the  west 
ern  side  of  the  valley  of  the  Rio  das  Velhas,  not  far  from 
Sabara.  It  was  long  worked  by  native  miners,  but  on  the 

*  For  a  detailed  description  of  this  formation  see  page  559,  next  chapter. 


THE   GOLD-MINES   OF   BRAZIL.  537 

failure  of  the  mines  at  Sao  Joao  d'El-Rei,  it  was  purchased 
by  the  company  of  that  name,  and  has  been  worked  with 
remarkable  success  ever  since.  The  gold  is  extracted  from 
a  lode  of  quartz  enclosed  in  clay-slate.  The  following  ac 
count  of  the  vein  and  the  mine,  with  the  accompanying 
statistics,  I  extract  from  the  work  of  Mr.  Arthur  Phil 
lips  :  *  — 

"  The  formation  affording  the  gold  is  a  strong,  well-defined  lode, 
though  irregular  in  direction,  dip,  and  dimensions  ;  its  inclination 
or  underlie  has  also  been  found  to  vary  at  different  depths  and  in 
different  parts  of  its  extent ;  the  vein-rock  is  mostly  composed  of 
quartz,  with  iron  pyrites  disseminated  more  or  less  regularly 
throughout  its  mass,  and  the  lode  is  not  unfrequently  traversed  by 
clay-slate  and  barren  white  quartz.  When  pyrites  is  absent  in 
these  rocks  gold  is  seldom  present,  f  In  some  places  the  vein  is 
cavernous  and  less  close  in  its  texture  than  in  others ;  but  where 
drusy  cavities  are  frequent  the  yield  of  gold  diminishes ;  the  most 
productive  matrix  for  gold  is  a  compact  mixture  of  quartz  and 
pyrites,  with  varying  quantities  of  slate.  The  great  metalliferous 
deposit  called  the  Cachoeira,  Bahu,  and  Quebra  Panella,  is  one 
continuous,  very  irregular  vein  varying  in  width  from  seven  to 
seventy  feet,  and  at  one  point  reaching  one  hundred  feet.;}:  The 

*  J.  Arthur  Phillips,  The  Mining  and  Metallurgy  of  Gold  and  Silver,  p.  82, 
which  see  for  additional  information  concerning  these  mines. 

t  "  Arsenical,  magnetic,  and  ordinary  iron  pyrites  predominate  at  different 
points  and  in  varying  quantities  :  carbonate  of  lime,  dolomite  brown  spar,  and, 
very  rarely,  copper  pyrites  are  also  present  in  the  vein." 

t  Burton,  Vol.  II.  p.  234,  says  :  "  The  breadth  of  the  lode  varies  from  four 
to  sixty  feet.  The  general  direction  when  worked  is  west  to  east  with  north 
erly  shiftings.  The  clip  is  45°,  rising  to  a  maximum  of  40°  30'  or  47°.  The 
strike  is  from  S.  82°  E.  -  S.  58°  E.  The  cleavage  planes  of  the  killas  are  in 
some  places  transverse  to,  in  others  parallel  with,  the  lode.  In  certain  sections 
of  the  mine  walls  they  bear  N.  36°  E.,  but  the  average  is  more  easterly.  The 

direction  is  S.  46°  E.,  and  their  dip  is  at  angles  varying  from  43°  -  70° 

The  underlay  or  underlie  dip,  or  inclination  of  the  mineral  vein,  is  6°  in  the 
23* 


538  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

average  thickness,  176  fathoms  perpendicular  on  the  Cachoeira 
and  165  fathoms  on  the  BaM,  is  nineteen  feet.  The  stoping 
space  extends  over  807  square  fathoms,  ....  the  enclosing  rock 

is  a  clay-slate  of  tolerably  uniform  texture The  mineral 

brought  to  the  surface  is  first  freed  from  slate  and  other  unproduc 
tive  stone  on  the  spalling-floors,  and  the  ore,  after  being  broken  to  a 

uniform  size,  is  stamped  fine The  stamping-mills,  as  is  also 

the  pumping  and  other  machinery,  are  moved  by  water-power. 
The  pulverized  ore,  issuing  from  stamp  coffers  through  finely  per 
forated  copper  grates,  passes  over  bullock-skins  in  the  first  in 
stance,  and,  lower  down  the  inclined  tables,  over  woollen  cloth. 
The  bullock-skins  are  taken  up  and  washed  in  vats  every  hour,  and 
the  woollen  cloths  at  longer  intervals.  The  subjoined  table  shows 
the  quantities  of  rock  raised  and  stamped,  the  amounts  of  gold 
produced,  and  annual  net  profits  made  since  1868."* 

The  following  account  of  the  Morro  Velho  mines  I  trans 
late  from  Gerber.f 

"  This  company,  after  having  worked  for  some  time  the  gold 
mines  in  the  vicinity  of  Sao  Joao  d'El-Rei,  acquired  the  auriferous 
lands  of  Morro  Velho,  which  since  then  they  have  explored  with 
great  profit  to  its  stockholders,  owing  this  happy  result  not  only 
to  the  richness  of  the  formations,  but  especially  to  the  perfection 
of  the  method  of  extracting  the  gold,  and  to  the  great  skill  with 
which  the  establishment  is  regulated.  The  auriferous  lodes  of  Morro 
Velho  are  in  general  pyrites,  contained  in  argillaceous  schist, 
and  inclined  to  the  southeast,  about  45°.  The  principal  mines 
explored  are  those  of  Cachoeira  and  Bahti.  The  first  has  in  hori 
zontal  section  a  length  of  1,120  palmos,  a  width  which  varies  from 

Bahii  and  8°  in  the  middle  Cachoeira.  Its  dip  varies  from  S.  82°  E.  -  S.  58°  E., 
and  the  inclination  from  42°- 47°,  but  everywhere  parallel  with  the  striae." 

*  For  a  minute  account  of  the  process  of  separating  the  gold  at  Morro 
Velho,  see  Burton,  Vol.  I.  Chap.  XXVI. 

Geographicas,  &c.,  de  Minas  Geraes,  1863,  p.  33. 


THE   GOLD-MINES   OF   BRAZIL. 


539 


1849. 

1850. 

1851. 

1852. 

1853. 

1854. 

Stone  raised,  tons,    .... 
Stone  and  Ore  stamped,  tons, 
Gold  produced,  pounds  Troy, 

69,336 
69,004 
2,583 

67,106 
64,313 
2,517 

79,810 
81,629 
3,057 

82,642 
81,236 
3,323 

85,698 
86,866 
3,623 

86,048 
86,433 
3,464 

Net  profit,      ... 

£38,136 

£35,880 

£51,586 

£55,391 

£49,273 

£44,740 

1856 

1856. 

1857. 

1858. 

1859. 

1860. 

Stone  raised,  tons,    .... 
Stone  and  Ore  stamped,  tons, 
Gold  produced,  pounds  Troy, 

87,297 
86,848 
3,325 

89,877 
87,424 
2,992 

86,407 
86,335 
2,539 

88,901 
87,270 
2,733 

88,968 
82,880 
3,294 

91,361 
74,528 
3,974 

Net  profit       .         ... 

£  34,460 

£  32,233 

£787 

£  8,545 

£38,058 

£60,460 

1861. 

1862. 

1863. 

1864. 

1865. 

1866. 

Stone  raised,  tons,     .... 
Stone  and  Ore  stamped,  tons, 
Gold  produced,  pounds  Troy, 

96,612 
71,902 
5,051 

90,896 
67,508 
5,182 

84,758 
65,697 
4,713 

65,435 
62,147 
2,852 

78,883 
59,607 
4,153 

Ss 
as 

o   . 

-•3 

e  o 
o  bo 

>"H 

Net  profit       .    .     .     .     . 

£  96,769 

£87,531 

£63,285 

£80,438 

0  0 

•«   S 

£14,629 

% 

13  to  85  palmos,  and  it  had  in  March,  1861,  a  perpendicular  depth 
of  1,190  palmos,  and  in  February,  1862,  of  1,480  palmos.  The 
mine  of  Bahu  averages  the  same  dimensions.  Both  possess  six 
inclined  planes  for  the  transport  of  the  ore.  In  the  year  1859 
there  were  occupied  in  the  service  of  the  mine  274  free  natives 
and  strangers  and  407  slaves ;  in  all,  681  men ;  among  them  242 
broqueiros  [blasters],  who  extracted  in  311  working-days  89,000 
tons  of  ore,  of  which  6,119  were  rejected  as  poor,  and  the  remain 
ing  82,881  tons  were  stamped  in  6  mills  with  134  hands. 
With  the  breaking  of  the  stone,  in  the  service  of  the  mills 
and  the  amalgamating  establishment,  were  occupied  in  this  year 
9  Europeans,  21  native  men,  and  24  native  women,  79  men-slaves, 


540  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

and  254  women-slaves;  in  all,  387  persons.  The  mean  yield  per 
ton  was  3.9  oitavas.*  The  amalgamation  has  been  made  at  the  rate 
of  70  pounds  of  mercury  to  the  ton  of  stamped  ore,  and  the  loss 
of  mercury  was  0.58  ounces  for  each  cubic  foot  amalgamated, 
which  makes  about  6%.  The  total  product  of  the  establishment 
was  in  the  year  referred  to  342,885  oitavas  of  gold,  with  whose 
extraction  was  incurred  an  expense  of  115:808  $067  Reis  [about 
$58.000  more  or  less],  i.  e.  357  Reis  [less  than  20  cents]  per 
oitava.  The  state  of  health  of  the  establishment  is  flattering ; 
the  mortality  in  the  whole  of  its  population  amounted  during 
1859  to  only  2.76%,  and,  excluding  accidental  deaths,  only  to  2.14%, 
a  circumstance  very  noteworthy  for  a  population  composed  for 
the  most  part  of  miners,  which  proves  the  solicitude  the  super- 
intendency  feels  for  the  welfare  of  its  employees.  The  capital  of 
the  company  subscribed  since  1830  is  £1 28,400  sterling,  which 
has  during  thirty  years,  up  to  1860,  produced  a  net  income  of 
£466,874  6s.  1  d.,  the  possessions  of  the  establishment  being  worth, 
beside  this,  £100,000.  The  last  dividend  of  the  company  was 
£2  for  share  of  £15." 

The  Morro  Velho  mine  is  an  example  of  successful  vein- 
mining  to  a  great  depth.  There  is  no  appearance  of  a  dimi 
nution  in  richness  of  the  ore  in  descending. 

Phillips  states,  on  the  authority  of  Mr.  Hockin,  the 
managing  director  of  the  mines,  that 

"The  rock  treated  at  the  Morro  Velho  mine  is  principally  a 
mixture  of  magnetic,  arsenical,  and  common  iron  pyrites,  finely 
disseminated  in,  and  intimately  mixed  with,  a  quartzose  gangue. 
The  composition  of  what  is  called  pure  ore  may  be  taken  at  about 
43  per  cent  of  silica,  and  57  per  cent  of  pyritous  matter.  Of 
these  minerals,  arsenical  pyrites  is  usually  the  most  auriferous, 
though  it  does  not  occur  in  large  quantities.  Pure  specimens  of 

*  An  oitava  is  7.343  grains  Troy. 


THE   GOLD-MINES   OF   BRAZIL.  541 

this  substance  afford  by  assay  from  four  to  six  ounces  of  gold  per 
ton,  and  wherever  crystals  of  this  mineral  make  their  appearance 
the  yield  of  the  precious  metal  is  large.  Cubical  pyrites  is  of  more 
frequent  occurrence,  but  is  far  less  rich  in  gold ;  solid  specimens 
of  this  substance,  but  slightly  mixed  with  quartz,  yield  about  an 
ounce  and  a  half  of  gold  per  ton  by  assay. 

"  Magnetic  pyrites  constitutes  the  largest  proportion  of  the  sul 
phides  found,  but  this  is  very  slightly  auriferous  since  pure  speci 
mens  generally  yield  rather  less  than  four  pennyweights  per  ton. 
Branches  of  clay-slate  are  often  found  in  the  principal  veins,  and 
this  rock,  by  assay,  affords  from  five  to  seven  and  a  half  penny 
weights  of  gold  per  torj.  Quartz  without  any  admixture  of  sul 
phides  has  never  been  found  to  be  auriferous,  and  it  is  a  remark 
able  fact  that  the  smallest  speck  of  gold  is  rarely  seen  previous  to 
concentration  in  any  of  the  ores  of  the  mine."* 

The  gold-mines  of  Gongo  Soco  lie  about  twenty  miles 
east  of  Morro  Velho,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  valley  of 
the  Rio  das  Velhas.  They  were  once  very  productive,  and 
became  famous  ;  Weddell  says  that  the  old  miners  once 
took  out  one  hundred  pounds  in  three  hours  !  but  through 
bad  management  the  company  that  worked  them  failed. 
The  income  of  the  company  during  the  thirty  or  more 
years  of  its  existence  was  £  1,388,416,  of  which  £  375,163 
was  profit. f 

Gardner  says,  on  the  authority  of  Helmreichen,  that  at 
the  Gongo  Soco  mines  there  is  the  following  succession  of 
rocks  :  a  bed  of  itacolumite,  underneath  which  is  a  bed  of 
auriferous  jacutinga  fifty  fathoms  thick ;  $  then  a  thick  layer 

*  For  the  details  of  the  method  of  treatment  of  these  ores  at  Morro  Velho 
see  Phillips,  op.  cit.,  to  which  there  is  a  frontispiece  representing  the  Morro 
Velho  establishment. 

f  Lieutenant  Moraes  quoted  by  Burton. 

J  This  section  does  not  agree  very  well  with  Castelnau's  description  of  the 


542  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

of  ferruginous  itacolumite,  with  a  dip  of  45°,  lying  on  clay- 
slate,  containing  great  masses  of  ironstone.  Underlying  the 
slates  is  granite.  Castelnau  says  that  these  beds  dip  to  the 
south.  The  gold  occurred  free  in  the  jacutinga,  and  was 
separated  by  washing.  M.  Weddell*  describes  the  Gongo 
Soco  jacutinga  as  black  and  friable  as  coal ;  it  was  said  to 
be  very  soft,  so  as  to  admit  of  being  worked  with  a  pick ; 
blasting  was  unnecessary.  When  the  gold  was  not  visible, 
the  ore  was  stamped  and  washed  without  using  mercury. 
When  the  precious  metal  was  visible  it  was  treated  first  in 
a  mortar,  and  then  washed  in  a  bateia  or  wooden  washing- 
bowl.  The  Gongo  Soco  gold  is  said  to  contain  palla 
dium,!  and  is  deep  yellow  in  color.  Burton  says  that  he 
has  seen  specimens  "  of  a  bright  brassy  tint,  and  sometimes 
dingy  red,  like  worked  unpolished  copper." 

The  Rossa  Grande  Gold-mining  Company  owns  a  tract 
of  land  twenty-one  square  miles  in  area,  not  far  from  the 
mines  of  Morro  Velho.  The  gold  occurs  in  a  mixture 
of  quartz  sometimes  associated  with  iron-ore,  at  others 
with  arsenical  pyrites,  or  ferric  oxide.  Some  of  these 
ores  are  said  to  be  very  rich,  producing  even  as  much  as 
fifty  oitavas  to  the  ton.  Besides  the  vein-rock,  gold  oc 
curs  in  jacutinga,  and  in  alluvial  washings.  Burton  visited 
the  mine,  and  reports  it  as  looking  very  much  like  a 
failure. 

The  Morro  de  Santa  Anna,  where  the  Dom  Pedro  North 

mines  :  Castelnau  says  that  the  jacutinga  is  ordinarily  only  sixteen  centimetres 
in  thickness. 

*  Castelnau,  Hist,  du  Voyage,  Tom.  I.  p  243  (bis). 

t  The  gold  of  Brazil  is  always  alloyed  with  silver,  and  occasionally  with 
platina ;  sometimes  it  contains  a  considerable  percentage  of  iron,  when  it  is 
very  dark  in  color.  Iridium  and  irid-osmiuin  occur  in  the  gold-washings  of 
Minas. 


THE   GOLD-MINES   OF   BRAZIL.  543 

d'El-Rci  Company  was  established,  is  a  mountain  about  four 
thousand  feet  in  height  above  the  sea,  and  some  two  thou 
sand  feet  above  the  neighboring  valley. 

I  give  Phillips's  description  of  the  geological  structure  of 
this  mountain,  but  I  must  confess  that  it  is  somewhat 
enigmatical :  *  — 

"  The  face  of  the  mountain  is  covered  with  canga,  an  iron  con 
glomerate,  about  four  feet  thick;  this  is  auriferous,  and  will 
probably  pay  for  stamping.  Beneath  the  canga  is  the  first  jacu- 
tinga  formation,  about  sixty  feet  in  thickness,  containing  veins  rich 
in  the  precious  metal ;  the  jacutinga  partakes  more  of  the  charac 
ter  of  mica-slate  than  of  iron-sand,  and  the  auriferous  veins  in  it 
are  more  like  quartz  than  ironstone.  This  rests  on  a  stratum  of 
hard  ironstone  about  three  feet  in  thickness,  which  is  the  second 
jacutinga  formation,  but  quartz  is  the  predominating  constituent, 
and  rock  is,  according  to  Captain  Treloar,  a  more  correct  name  for 
it  than  jacutinga.  This  lode  averages  about  four  feet  wide  ;  it 
opens  and  contracts,  and  where  it  expands  it  is  generally  found 
most  productive.  Subjacent  to  the  layer  is  a  layer  of  hard  clay 
and  mica-slate,  of  about  five  feet  in  thickness,  and  then  comes  the 
rock  formation  which  has  yielded  the  chief  returns  of  gold.  In 
the  present  workings  it  is  about  ten  feet  wide ;  but  in  its  longi 
tudinal  course  it  so  expands  and  contracts  as  to  become  in  some 

places  extinct The  general  direction  of  the  lodes  at  Morro 

de  Santa  Anna  may  be  said  to  be  easterly  and  westerly,  and  their 
underlie  northerly  ;  but  both  vary,  owing  to  the  lodes  hugging  the 
contour  of  the  mountain." 

Near  Santa  Anna  is  another  mine  called  Maquine', 
worked  by  the  company  owning  the  Morro  de  Santa  Anna, 
which  has  been  abandoned.  Out  of  all  the  gold-mines  of 
Brazil  only  two  have  paid,  —  Morro  Vclho  and  Maquind. 

*  Phillips,  op.  cit.,  p.  85. 


544  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

The  rest  have  failed,  some  of  them  after  a  more  or  less 
prosperous  career,  and  notoriously  in  most  cases  from  bad 
management  and  an  imprudent  outlay  of  funds. 

At  Congonhas  do  Campo,  Burton  describes  the  gold  as 
occurring  "  in  the  pores  and  cavities  of  friable  or  rotten 
quartz  injected  into  greenstone,"  *  and  states  that  "  Mr. 
Luccock  detected  dust-gold  '  among  schist-clays  and  the 
other  component  parts  of  the  ground,'  and  the  latter  con 
tained  the  ore  '  with  equal  certainty,  and  nearly  equal  quan 
tity,  whether  of  the  prevailing  red  hue,  or  any  of  the  shades 
of  brown  or  yellow.'  ' 

The  gold-mine  of  Sao  Vicente  belongs  to  the  East  d'El- 
Rei  Company,  which  is,  we  understand,  about  to  be  recon 
structed.  The  gold  is  found  in  a  quartz  vein  that  strikes 
east- west  with  a  dip  of  28°,  and  whose  rock  character  we  have 
already  described.  Burton  says  that  "  failure  is  its  actual 
state,"  but  that  "  the  little  lode  may  pay  if  worked  safely, 
that  is  to  say,  scientifically  and  economically."  A  specimen 
of  the  Sao  Vicente  gold  was  examined  for  me  by  Mr.  Clarke 
of  the  Cornell  Chemical  Laboratory  for  palladium.  There 
was  not  even  a  trace. 

The  Cata  Branca  mines  belong  to  the  Morro  Velho  Com 
pany,  and  are  situated  two  miles  east  of  the  village  of 
Corrego  Secco.  The  following  notes  on  the  mines  are  from 
Burton  f  :  — 

"  The  serra  of  Cata  Branca  trends  where  mined  from  east  of 
north  to  west  of  south.  The  containing  rock  proved  to  be  mica 
ceous  granular  quartz  with  visible  gold,  as  in  California.  The  strike 
was  N.  15°  W.,  and  the  dip  80°  to  85° ;  in  some  places  the  stratifi 
cation  was  nearly  vertical,  in  others  it  was  bent  to  the  slope  of  the 

*  Captain  Burton,  Highlands  of  the  Brazil,  Vol.  I.  p.  174. 
t  Vol.  I.  p.  182. 


THE   GOLD-MINES   OF   BRAZIL.  545 

mountain,  and  generally  it  was  irregular.  The  lode,  narrow  at  the 
surface,  widened  below  from  six  to  eighteen  feet,  and  the  greatest 
depth  attained  was  thirty-two  fathoms." 

He  describes  the  vein-rock  as  varying  granular  to  compact, 
and  states  that  canga  and  jacutinga  occur  here. 

"  The  lode,  which  could  not  be  called  a  '  constant  productive,' 
abounds  in  vuglis,  or  vein  cavities,  tubes,  pipes,  and  branches,  called 
by  the  Brazilian  miner  '  Olhos,'  — eyes,  surrounded  by  a  soft  ma 
terial,  mainly  running  vertically,  and  richer  in  free  gold  than  the 
average.  Near  these  pockets,  but  not  disseminated  through  the 
vein,  was  a  small  quantity  of  auriferous  pyrites,  iron  and  arsenical. 
A  little  fine  yellow  dust,  oxide  of  bismuth,  ran  down  the  middle  of 
the  lode  and  gave  granular  gold.  The  best  specimen  averaged 
from  21.75  to  22  carats,  our  standard  gold. 

"  The  Santa  Antonio  lode  lay  parallel  with  and  east  of  the  Cata 
Branca.  The  Aredes  mine,  eight  miles  to  the  southwest,  was  be 
yond  the  peak ;  here  the  serra  is  covered  with  boulders  of  hard 
quartz,  very  numerous  at  the  base  of  the  great  vein.  They  rest 
on  the  common,  soft,  variously  colored  clays  of  the  country,  and 
are  intersected  with  lines  of  sugary  quartz,  which  gave  a  very  little 
very  fine  gold.  This  formation  extends  far  to  south  and  west  of 
Itabira ;  openings  were  made  in  it,  and  one,  the  '  Sumidouro,'  was 
successful.  Aredes  showed  also  a  small  formation  of  jacotinga 
containing  red  gold,  sometimes  alloyed  with  palladium  and  accom 
panied  with  oxide  of  manganese." 

In  1843  M.  d'Osery,  geologist  of  the  expedition  of  Count 
Castelnau,  visited  and  examined  the  Cata  Branca  mine.  He 
reported*  that  at  the  locality  the  rocks  consist  of  itacolumite 
and  clay  slates  alternating,  and  in  strata  almost  perpendic 
ular.  He  described  the  auriferous  vein  as  running  nearly 

*  Castelnau,  Expedition  dans  I'Ame'rique  de  Sud,  Hist,  du  Voyage,  Tome  I. 
p.  244.  By  a  blunder  in  pagination,  pp.  241  -  256  are  repeated  in  this  volume. 

1 1 


546  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

north-south  and  traversed  by  fissures  or  faults  in  which 
the  gold  occurred.  It  was  also  found  in  the  fissures  for  a 
distance  of  two  or  three  palms  on  each  side  of  the  line  of 
the  faults,  together  with  bismuth.  Sometimes  gold  was 
found  where  the  vein  quartz  came  in  contact  with  the  en 
closing  rock ;  the  interior  of  the  vein  was  very  barren. 
D'Osery  thought  that  originally  the  vein  was  composed  of 
pure  quartz,  which  was  afterwards  disturbed  and  the  gold 
and  bismuth  introduced  by  sublimation. 

The  mine  proved  a  failure  because  of  bad  working  and  a 
want  of  economy. 

Gold-washings  occur,  as  already  described,  in  almost  every 
province  in  the  empire. 

In  Maranhao  is  a  mine  belonging  to  a  company  called  the 
Montes  Aureos  Gold-Mining  Company  (limited).  I  know 
nothing  of  it  further  than  that  it  is  said  so  far  to  have 
been  worked  with  but  little  success. 

The  generally  received  opinion  that  the  gold-mines  of 
Brazil  are  exhausted  is  a  very  great  mistake.  There  are 
still  surface  deposits  of  great  extent  which,  with  modern 
appliances,  could  be  successfully  worked.  The  underground 
wealth  of  the  country  is  almost  untouched,*  and  if  the 
mining  public  of  America  knew  Brazil  better,  I  am  per 
suaded  that  the  gold-fields  of  that  country  would  not  be 
neglected  by  American  capitalists. 

*  In  this  belief  I  am  supported  by  Burton,  and  Liais,  in  treating  of  the  head 
of  the  basin  of  the  Sao Francisco,  says  :  "  Quant  aux  filons  pyriteux  qui  abon- 
dent  dans  les  re'gions  montagncuses  circonscrivant  le  bassin  du  San  Francisco, 
et  oil  ses  divers  affluents  prennent  leur  source,  ils  sont  c'te  a  peine  attaques. 
C'est  la  cependant  quo  reside  la  grande  richesse  aurif  ere  de  la  province  de  Minas- 
Geraes.  Carc'est  de  la  surface  de'composee  de  ces  filons  pyriteux  qu'etait  pro- 
venu  1'or  qui  fut  jadis  retire'  des  depots  meubles  "  —  L?  Sun-Francisco  ait  Bresil, 
par  M.  Liais,  Bull,  de  la  Socieltf  Geoyrajihif.,  5rae  Serie,  E.  2,  p.  309. 


RESUME  OF  THE  GEOLOGY  OF  BRAZIL.        547 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

RESUME  OF  THE  GEOLOGY  OF  BRAZIL. 

Eozoic  Rocks  and  their  Distribution  in  Brazil.  —  Absence  of  Limestones.  — 
The  Silurian  Age  in  Brazil.  —  The  Auriferous  Clay-Slates  of  Minas  proba 
bly  Lower  Silurian.  —  Note  on  the  Silurian  of  the  Andes.  —  The  Distribu 
tion  of  Marine  Animals  in  the  Palaeozoic.  —  The  Devonian  Age  in  Brazil 
and  South  America.  —  The  Carboniferous  of  Brazil  and  Bolivia.  —  The  New 
Bed  Sandstone.  —  The  Cretaceous,  its  Distribution  in  Brazil  and  South 
America.  —  Several  distinct  Periods  represented.  —  Tertiary  Rocks.  —  Drift. 
—  The  Glacial  Phenomena  of  Patagonia.  —  Tapanhoacanga.  —  The  Drift 
of  Rio  and  of  the  Region  of  Decomposition.  —  The  Drift  of  the  Dry 
Region  of  Bahia,  Sergipe,  and  Alagoas.  —  Examination  into  the  Merits  of 
the  various  Theories  proposed  to  account  for  the  Formation  of  the  Brazilian 
Drift.  —  The  Theory  of  Subaerial  Decomposition.  —  Wave  Action  during  a 
Subsidence.  —  Wave  Action  during  Elevation.  —  All  these  Theories  unsat 
isfactory;  —  The  Glacial  Hypothesis  the  most  reasonable. 

Eozoic.  —  The  gneiss  of  the  province  of  Rio  de  Janeiro  is 
an  orthoclase  variety,  varying  from  schistose  to  coarse 
grained  and  porphyritic,  or  homogeneous  and  granitic ;  so 
far  as  I  have  been  able  to  observe,  it  is  everywhere  stratified, 
and  consists  of  metamorphic  sedimentary  deposits.  Though 
much  of  the  rock  would  be  described  as  granite  if  seen  in 
the  hand  specimen  or  in  a  single  quarry,  I  have  never  failed 
to  find  the  large  masses  stratified,  so  that  in  this  work  I 
have  included  all  the  varieties  under  the  general  head  of 
gneiss.  These  rocks  in  the  province  of  Rio  are  of  great 
thickness,  and  the  Serra  do  Mar  and  the  Serra  da  Manti- 
qucira  are  wholly  composed  of  them.  According  to  Pissis 
they  are  divided  into  two  groups,  an  upper  and  lower,  sub 
divided  as  follows :  — 


548  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

Gneiss,  with  numerous  heavy  beds  of  quartzite,  and  an 
Upper.  •{          abundance  of  mineral  veins  which  are  not  found  in 
the  lower  division. 

1.  Fine-grained  gneiss,  without  garnets  and  with  some 

subordinate  beds  of  quartzite  in  coarse  grains  with  a 

little  mica. 
Lower.  -{ 

2.  Gneiss  fine  grained,  very  rich  in  mica,  and  with  an 

abundance  of  garnets. 

3.  Porphyritic  gneiss. 

On  crossing  the  Mucury  district  I  found  the  gneiss,  which 
was  at  first  coarse  and  porphyritic,  becoming  finer  on  going 
westward,  and  finally  giving  way  to  heavy  beds  of  mica^ 
slate  or  mica-schistose  gneiss  with  bands  of  quartz.  The 
same  succession  seems  to  obtain  elsewhere  in  Brazil,  the 
gneisses  proper  being  overlaid  by  mica-slates,  the  older 
rocks  along  the  coast  generally  lying  to  the  eastward.  This 
corresponds  very  well  with  what  D'Orbigny  says  of  the  suc 
cession  of  similar  strata  in  Bolivia  and  the  Andes,  where  the 
gneisses  are  immediately  overlaid  by  mica-slates.  Elie  de 
Beaumont  and  other  geologists  of  note  have  long  since  sig^ 
nalized  the  gneisses  of  the  Serra  do  Mar  as  among  the  very 
oldest  stratified  rocks  of  the  globe.  The  system  of  upheaval 
of  the  gneiss  of  the  Serra  do  Mar  D'Orbigny  calls  the  Bra 
zilian  ;  and  Elie  de  Beaumont,  in  his  report  on  the  "  Conside 
rations  g-enerales  sur  la  G-eologie  de  I*  Amerique  meridio 
nals"  by  M.  D'Orbigny,*  says  that  this  system  is  one  of  the 
oldest  known,  and  that  perhaps  it  preceded  the  soulcvement 
of  the  most  ancient  system  of  mountains  hitherto  described 
in  Europe.  It  is  certainly  the  oldest  of  the  rock  formations 
of  the  Brazilian  plateau.  When  we  come  to  compare  the 
Brazilian  gneisses  with  the  Laurentian  rocks  of  Canada  and 

*  Comptes  Rendns,  28  May,  1843. 


R£SUM£  OF  THE  GEOLOGY  OF  BRAZIL.        549 

Europe  we  find  such  strong  resemblance  in  lithological 
character,  and  in  the  system  of  the  upheaval,  I  can  see  no 
reason  why  we  should  not  refer  them  to  the  eozoic.  The 
axis  of  upheaval  is  the  same  as  that  of  the  Laurentides. 

In  North  America  heavy  beds  of  limestone  are  interstrat- 
ified  with  the  gneiss  of  the  Laurentian.  In  the  Serra  do 
Mar  beds  of  limestone  are  very  rare,  and  the  thin  bed  I  ex 
amined  at  Pirahy  is  the  only  one  I  have  seen  in  the  Serra 
do  Mar.  This  contained  only  faint  streaks  of  serpentine. 
Limestones  appear  to  occur  interbedded  with  the  gneiss  at 
Cantagallo.  Some  of  the  limestones  of  the  interior  of 
Bahia  may  belong  to  the  same  series. 

The  absence  of  clay-slates  among  the  gneisses  in  Brazil 
recalls  also  the  Laurentian  of  North  America.  There  can  be 
little  doubt  that  the  great  mass  of  the  gneisses  of  the  coast 
provinces  north  and  south  of  Rio  are  eozoic,  but  these  rocks 
have  in  the  northern  provinces  been  so  slightly  examined 
that  it  is  impossible  to  describe  them  with  any  detail,  and 
some  of  the  mica-schists  associated  with  them  may  be  Lower 
Silurian  or  Cambrian.  Along  the  coast  of  the  Province  of 
Bahia  there  are  dioritic  gneisses  in  the  series,  and  on  the 
Sao  Francisco  and  elsewhere  we  find  syenites.  The  study 
of  these  old  rocks  in  the  southern  provinces  is  attended  with 
immense  difficulty,  owing  to  the  forests,  the  decomposition 
of  the  surface,  and  the  thickness  of  the  drift.  But  in  the 
drier  northern  provinces,  where  the  rocks  are  more  exposed 
and  less  affected  by  decomposition,  they  may  be  well  exam 
ined.  In  the  preceding  chapters  I  have  shown  that  gneiss 
is  found  in  every  province  of  the  empire.  Not  only  does  it 
form  the  great  coast  belt  extending  from  Maranhao  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Rio  de  la  Plata,  but  it  sends  off  a  band  from 
southern  Minas  Geraes  into  Goyaz,  and  the  Monies  Pyre- 


550  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

ncos  and  a  considerable  part  of  the  mountainous  region  of 
Central  Goyaz  are  composed  of  it.  The  same  rock  shows 
itself  in  the  cataracts  of  the  Tocantins,  the  Xingu,  the  Tapa- 
jos,  the  Arinos,  and  the  Madeira,  showing  that  the  table 
land  of  Brazil  is  everywhere  underlaid  by  it. 

In  the  present  state  of  our  knowledge  of  the  stratigraphy 
of  these  rocks  it  is  quite  impossible  to  do  more  than  guess 
at  their  thickness,  for  as  in  Canada  and  elsewhere  there  are 
numerous  reversed  folds,  and  one  may  travel  for  miles 
over  the  surface  of  the  Brazilian  gneisses,  finding  them 
always  highly  inclined,  and  all  dipping  in  the  same  way. 
The  Serra  do  Mar,  where  crossed  by  the  Dom  Pedro  II.  Rail 
road,  is  a  monoclinal  ridge,  but  it  must  be  composed  of 
several  reversed  folds,  else  the  thickness  would  be  enor 
mous. 

The  highlands  of  Venezuela  and  Guiana  are  largely 
composed  of  gneiss  similar  to  that  of  Brazil,  and  disturbed 
by  the  same  system  of  upheaval  as  has  been  remarked  by 
Humboldt,  D'Orbigny,  Agassiz,  and  others,  and  this  gneiss 
area,  bounding  the  Amazonian  valley  on  the  north,  was 
doubtless  an  island  at  the  opening  of  the  palaeozoic  time. 
The  highlands  of  Brazil  formed  another  island,  while  the 
Chiquitos  gneiss  region  to  the  southwestward  was  probably 
another. 

Since  the  foregoing  was  written  and  sent  to  the  printer, 
I  have  been  honored  by  a  visit  from  Dr.  T.  Sterry  Hunt, 
who  has  examined  with  care  the  large  suite  of  metamorphic 
rocks  I  brought  home  from  Brazil.  Dr.  Hunt  has  kindly 
furnished  me  with  the  following  note  for  publication  :  — 

"The  gneissic  rocks .  of  Rio  de  Janeiro  and  the  Serra  do  Mar 
present  the  characteristic  types  of  the  Laurentian  of  North  Amer 
ica,  including  as  they  do  coarse  granitoid  and  porphyritic  varieties 


RESUME  OF  THE  GEOLOGY  OF  BRAZIL.        551 

with  red  orthoclase  and  fine-grained  gray  and  white  banded  gneisses, 
often  hornblendic.  The  white  crystalline  limestone  with  pale  green 
serpentine  which  occurs  with  these  Brazilian  gneisses  is  not  distin 
guishable  from  that  of  the  North  American  Laurentian.  The 
fine-grained,  tender  micaceous  and  hornblendic  schists,  which  in 
Brazil  succeed  the  gneisses,  are  very  like  the  similar  rocks  which 
in  some  parts  of  New  England  and  Acadia  appear  to  follow  the 
Laurentian,  and  are  associated  with  staurotide,  cyanite,  and  chias- 
tolite  slates ;  while  the  auriferous  argillites  and  quartzites  which 
follow  these  schists  in  Brazil  strikingly  resemble  those  which  in 
Nova  Scotia  occupy  a  similar  stratigraphical  position.  This  triple 
parallelism  in  lithe-logical  and  mineralogical  character  in  the  rocks 
of  regions  so  widely  separated  is  in  itself  a  strong  argument  in 
favor  of  their  geological  parallelism." 

Silurian.  —  Notwithstanding  all  that  has  been  published 
by  the  various  geologists  who  have  studied  the  gold  region 
of  Minas  Geraes,  the  exact  succession  of  the  different  mem 
bers  of  the  metamorphic  series  lying  just  inside  of  the  gneiss 
belt  has  never  been  satisfactorily  worked  out.  The  clay 
and  talcose  schists,  the  itacolumite,*  itabirite,  and  other  as 
sociated  metamorphic  rocks  of  this  region  appear  to  be  lower 
palasozoic  in  age.  I  have  called  attention  to  the  striking 
resemblance  borne  by  the  clay-slates  and  associated  quartz 
ites  to  the  gold-bearing  rocks  of  Nova  Scotia,  and  I  have 
suggested  that  they  may  be  the  equivalents  of  the  Quebec 
group  of  North  America.  The  gold-bearing  rocks  in  Minas 
Geraes  resemble  the  similar  auriferous  series  of  the  south 
ern  Atlantic  States  in  which  itacolumite  occurs. 

*  On  page  149  I  have  spoken  of  the  occurrence  on  the  Rio  Gavata  of  a  schis 
tose  quartz  rock  resembling  a  sandstone.  I  had  not  a  good  opportunity  of  ex 
amining  the  locality,  and  I  doubted  whether  it  was  a  metamorphic  rock.  A 
further  examination  of  a  specimen  of  the  rock  in  company  with  Dr.  T.  S. 
Hunt  has  proved  it  to  be  a  true  itacolumite. 


552  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

Clay-slates  with  auriferous  veins  occur  in  other  parts  of 
Brazil  besides  Minas,  as,  for  instance,  in  Goyaz,  and  in  the 
vicinity  of  Cuiaba  in  Matto  Grosso. 

These  rocks  are  everywhere  so  metamorphosed,  that  all 
trace  of  fossils  has  been  completely  obliterated.* 

*  The  Silurian  rocks  of  the  Andes  of  Bolivia  and  Peru  have  been  examined 
by  the  English  geologist,  Mr.  Forebs  (Quart.  Jour.  Geol.  Soc.  Vol.  XVII.  p.  53), 
who  thus  describes  their  distribution  :  "  The  rocks  which  I  have  grouped  to 
gether  as  pertaining  to  the  Silurian  epoch  show  themselves  continuously,  or  very 
nearly  so,  over  an  area  from  northwest  to  southeast  of  more  than  seven  hundred 
miles ;  and  the  area  occupied  by  them  cannot  be  estimated  at  less  than  80,000  to 
100,000  square  miles.  They  form  the  mountain-chain  of  the  high  Andes,  rising 
to  an  absolute  height  of  25,000  feet  above  the  seu,  and,  in  the  part  of  South 
America  more  particularly  the  subject  of  this  memoir,  continuous  through  Peru 
from  the  north  of  Cusco  over  the  snowy  ranges  of  Carabaya  and  Apollobamba, 
across  the  provinces  of  Munecas,  Larecaja,  La  Paz,  Yungas,  Sica-Sica,  Inqui- 
sivi,  Ayopaya,  Cochabamba,  Cliza,  Misquc,  Chayanta,  Yamparez,  Porco,  To- 
mini,  and  Cinti  throwing  off  spurs  along  the  eastern  side  of  the  main  chain, 
right  through  the  province  of  Caupolican  down  to  the  river  Beni  in  Mojos,  into 
Yuracorcs,  Valle  Grande,  Santa  Cruz  and  Chuquisaca,  and  to  the  east  into  the 
provinces  of  Oruro,  Potosi,  and  Chichas."  The  rocks  consist  of  clay-slate, 
shales,  and  graywackes,  and,  —  according  to  Mr.  Forbes,  they  probably  repre 
sent  the  whole  Silurian  from  top  to  bottom.  D'Orbigny  had  already  de 
scribed  ten  species  of  Silurian  fossils  from  the  Central  Andes ;  to  this  list  Mr. 
Forbes  has  added  nineteen  new  species,  described  by  Mr.  Salter  in  his  paper 
following  that  of  Mr.  Forbes.  The  genera  represented  in  the  Andean  Silurian 
are  Cruzeana,  Lingula,  Orthis,  Graptolithus,  Phacops,  Asaphus,  Boliviana,  Pa 
tella,  Bellerophon,  Area?,  Ctenodonta,  Cucullella,  Strophomena,  Tentaculites, 
Beyrichia,  Homalonotus.  Two  species  of  Phacops  described  by  D'Orbigny  are 
doubtful,  being  probably  Devonian.  If  we  subtract  these  we  have  left  only  twen 
ty-seven  species  of  fossils  known  for  the  Andean  Silurian.  Jn  the  course  of  his 
paper  Mr.  Salter  makes  an  interesting  remark  that  speck's  in  the  Silurian  had 
a  very  limited  range,  those  of  India,  Australia,  and  Europe  being  entirely  dif 
ferent.  On  the  other  hand,  the  species  of  the  Devonian,  especially  of  the  upper 
part,  had  a  very  wide  range,  while  the  carboniferous  types  are  almost  cos 
mopolitan.  I  must  confess  that,  after  a  careful  study  of  the  carboniferous 
Brachiopoda  of  Nova  Scotia,  I  am  hardly  prepared  to  go  quite  so  far  as  to 
admit  that  the  Producti  from  Bolivia,  Nova  Scotia,  Ireland,  and  Belgium, 
thrown  together  under  the  name  of  Cora,  are  all  the  same  species,  and  I  may 


R£SUM£  OF  THE  GEOLOGY  OF  BRAZIL.        553 

This  series  offers  a  large  number  of  crystallized  minerals, 
among  which  are  the  topaz,  enclaze,  <fcc.  The  topazes  of 
Minas  appear  to  be  found  in  the  cascalho  formed  from  the 
debris  of  these  rocks. 

Devonian.  —  Some  of  the  metamorphic  rocks  of  Minas 
Geracs  or  Bahia  may  be  devonian,  but  I  have  seen  no  rocks 
referable  to  that  age  on  the  coast,  unless  it  be  that  the  slate 
conglomerates,  sandstone,  and  shale,  with  fossil  plants  found 
on  the  Rio  Pardo,  may  belong  to  it.* 

Carboniferous.  —  There  can  be  no  uncertainty  about  the 
existence  of  true  carboniferous  strata  in  Brazil,  for  besides 
the  coal  we  have  an  abundance  of  fossil  plants  of  carbonif 
erous  genera.  The  coal-basins  lie  just  south  of  the  tropics, 
but  within  the  range  of  the  palm,  and  they  are  a  coast  for 
mation,  corresponding  in  this  respect  to  the  coal-basins  of 
Acadia,  Massachusetts,  and  Rhode  Island.  I  know  of  no 
carboniferous  strata  north  of  Rio  on  the  coast.  It  would 
seem  as  though  the  depression  of  the  coast  which  allowed 
the  accumulation  of  the  coal-beds  of  the  southern  provinces 
had  not  extended  to  the  north.  The  very  slight  disturb 
ance  of  the  coal-beds  is  noteworthy,  as  is  also  their  bitumi 
nous  character.! 

say  the  same  of  the  other  Nova  Scotian  Brachiopoda  referred  by  the  distin 
guished  Mr.  Davidson  to  European  forms.  But  whether  the  species  were  or 
were  not  absolutely  cosmopolitan  during  the  carboniferous,  the  resemblance 
of  the  marine  animals  was  much  greater  during  the  carboniferous  than  before 
that  time. 

*  Messrs.  D'Orbigny,  Salter,  and  Forbes  refer  to  the  devonian  certain  fos- 
siliferous  rocks  of  the  eastern  plateau  of  Bolivia.  See  Forbes,  op.  cit.,  p.  51  ; 
and  Salter,  op.  cit.,  p.  63.  The  Falkland  Islands,  described  by  Darwin,  are 
composed  of  rocks  probably  belonging  to  the  Lower  devonian.  (Quarterly 
Journal  Geological  Society,  London,  Vol.  II.  p.  267,  1846.) 

t  Carboniferous  rocks  are  found  in  the  Rio  Guapore',  one  of  the  branches  of 
the  Madeira.  The  carboniferous  rocks  of  Bolivia  have  been  studied  by  D'Or- 
VOL.  I.  24 


554  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

Triassic.*  —  I  have  referred  to  the  triassic  a  thick  series 
of  red  sandstones,  lithologically  identical  with  the  Connecti 
cut  River  and  New  Jersey  new  red  sandstone,  apparently 
barren  of  fossil  remains,  and  which  occupy  a  large  area  in 
the  Province  of  Sergipe,  underlying  the  cretaceous.  These 
rocks  are  more  or  less  inclined.  I  know  of  no  trap  asso 
ciated  with  them. 

Jurassic.^  —  I  have  seen  no  rocks  on  the  Brazilian  coast 
referable  to  this  age.  I  can  explain  their  absence  only  by 

bigny  and  Forbes.  I  extract  a  short  account  of  these  last  by  D'Archiac,  Ge'o- 
logie  et  Pal&ntologie,  p.  499  :  — 

"  Les  roches  carboniferes  de  la  Bolivie,  situees  a  1'ouest  des  Andes,  se  ren- 
contrent,  par  places,  comme  de  petits  bassins  allonge's  gene'ralemcnt  du  S.  O.  ati 
N.  E.  situes  au  milieu  de  la  grande  plaine  quaternaire  qui  entoure  le  lac  de 
Titicaca,  se  montrant  aussi  au  nord  du  lac,  et  plus  au  sud  dans  les  provinces 
d'Arque  et  d'Oruro.  Le  point  le  plus  has  oil  on  les  observe  est  a  3,800  metres 
d'altitude  et  on  pent  les  suivre  jusqn'a  4,000  et  4,500  metres.  A  1'ouest  du  lac, 
entre  Tiquina  et  la  Guardia,  M.  Forbes  donne  une  ide'e  complete  de  la  serie  des 
assises  disposees  en  bnssin  renverse'  et  pre'sentant  successivement  des  plus  an- 
ciennes  aux  plus  re'centes  qui  occupent  le  milieu  du  plissement,  des  gres  blancs, 
des  conglomcrats  et  des  gres  rouges,  des  argiles  blanches  panache'es,  des  cal- 
caires  en  banes  epais,  bleus  et  jaunes,  des  argiles  schisteuses  panachees,  un  cal- 
caire  bleu  puissant,  enfin  des  gres  jaunes  et  blancs."  And  in  a  note  he  says : 
"  Les  fossiles  de  ces  assises,  etudie's  par  M.  Salter,  sont ;  Productus  Semireticu- 
latus  (P.  Inca  d'Orb.)  P.  longispinus  (Capacii  d'Orb.)  Spirifr.r  Condor,  S.  Bolivi- 
ensis,  Athi/ris  subtil  ita,  Orthis  resupinata,  0.  Andii,  Ttfiynchonella  nov.  sp.  Euom- 
phaltts  (Phanerotinus  ?) ,  Bellerophon  voisin  de  B.  Urn,  des  polypiers  et  des 
crinoides  inde'termines.  Des  provinces  d'Arque  et  d'Oruro  ont  e'te'  obtenus 
les  Spirifcr  Condor  et  lineatus,  les  Productus  Cora,  semireticukitiis,  Bolivientit  et 
I' Orthis  Andii." 

*  Mr.  M.  D.  Forbes  refers  to  the  Triassic  or  Permian  a  series  of  red  and 
yellow  sandstones,  saliferous  and  gypseous  marls,  clays,  gypsums,  cupriferous 
sandstones,  and  red  conglomerate  found  in  the  Andes,  but  which  contain  no 
determinable  organic  remains.  (Quart.  Jour.  Geol.  Soc.,  Vol.  XVII.  p.  36.) 

t  Jurassic  rocks  containing  Ammonites,  Terebratulae,  Spirifers,  and  other 
fossil  characteristics  of  that  epoch  have  been  found  in  the  Andes  by  MM.  Cros- 
nier,  Maycn,  D'Orbigny,  Darwin,  Domeyko,  Forbes,  &c.  They  extend  from 
Chili  to  Peru. 


RESUME  OF  THE  GEOLOGY  OF  BRAZIL.        555 

supposing  that  during  the  Jurassic  the  coast  stood  higher 
than  at  present.  In  this  respect  the  Brazilian  coast  would 
resemble  that  of  Eastern  North  America. 

Cretaceous.  —  The  cretaceous  rocks  of  Brazil  are  un 
known  on  the  coast  south  of  the  Abrolhos,  which  islands  I 
believe  to  be  outliers  of  this  formation.  Properly  speaking 
the  cretaceous  deposits  begin  a  few  miles  south  of  the  Bay 
of  Bahia,  and  occur  at  intervals  along  the  coast  northward, 
occupying,  at  least  in  several  instances,  separate  basins,  some 
of  which  are  fresh-water.  We  find  cretaceous  rocks  in 
Bahia,  Sergipe,  Alagoas,  Pernambuco,  Parahyba  do  Norte, 
Ceara,  and  Piauhy.  It  is  difficult  to  estimate  their  exact 
extent,  because  they  are  largely  covered  up  by  tertiary 
beds.  It  is  very  probable  that  marine  cretaceous  beds  un 
derlie  the  tertiary  deposits  throughout  the  whole  valley  of 
the  Amazonas,  but  the  only  place  where  they  show  them 
selves,  so  far  as  I  can  ascertain,  is  on  the  Aquiry,  an  affluent 
of  the  Rio  Purus,  where  they  have  been  examined  by  M. 
Chandler,  as  is  stated  by  Professor  Agassiz.*  I  am  not 
aware  that  they  are  exposed  anywhere  to  the  eastward  on 
either  side  of  the  valley. 

Among  the  cretaceous  rocks  of  Brazil  several  periods  are 
represented. 

The  fossil  mollusks  of  the  fresh-water  beds  of  the  Bahia 
Basin  have  a  very  strong  wealden  look,  but  they  are  asso 
ciated  with  teleostian  fishes  and  other  remains,  which  are 
certainly  cretaceous.  They  evidently  belong  low  down  in 
the  series,  and  they  may  represent  the  Neocomien. 

The  compact  limestones  at  Maroim  affording  Ammonites, 
Ceratites,  Natica,  &c.,  are  probably  middle  cretaceous.  Over 
these  are  the  flaggy  white  and  grayish  limestones  with  Ino- 

*  Journey  in  Brazil. 


556  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

ceramus,  Ammonites,  fish,  &c.,  apparently  representing  the 
white  chalk,  SSnonien.  For  the  fresh-water  beds  at  Bahia 
I  would  propose  the  name  Bahian  group ;  for  the  Maroim 
limestones,  that  of  Sergipian  group ;  for  the  flaggy  limestone 
beds  near  Aracaju,  the  Cotinguiban  group,  and  for  the 
Aquiry  beds  the  Amazonian  group.  The  cretaceous  of  Bra 
zil  would  then  be  divided  as  follows :  — 

Amazonian  group  (Aquiry)  with  Mosasaurus,  Mcestrichtien  ? 
Cotinguiban  group  with  Inoceramus,  Ammonites,  &c.,  Senonien  ? 
Sergipian  group  with  Ammonites  and  Ceratites,  middle  cretaceous  ? 
Bahian  aroup,  Crocodilus,  Pisodus,  species  of  Melania  and  other 
fresh-water  shells,  cyprids,  &c.,  Neocomien  ? 

The  sandstones,  shales,  and  limestones  of  the  Abrolhos 
and  the  lower  Sao  Francisco  I  believe  to  be  cretaceous, 
but  I  have  no  fossils  by  which  to  determine  their  exact 
age.  They  may  correspond  in  part  to  the  Sergipian  and 
Cotinguiban  groups.  Those  of  the  Sao  Francisco  are  mud 
and  sand  deposits  instead  of  limestone,  which  accumu 
lated  along  the  coast  elsewhere  in  clearer  water.  It  will 
be  remembered  that  I  have  described  the  limestones  near 
Proprid  as  sandy  and  even  pebbly. 

The  cretaceous  rocks  nowhere  form  very  high  hills. 
They  appear  to  have  been  deposited  in  a  shallow  sea,  which 
was  not  deep  enough  to  penetrate  into  the  Sao  Francis 
can  valley  above  the  falls.  The  sandstones  above  the 
falls,  described  by  Burton  as  cretaceous,  I  am  persuaded 
will  be  found  to  be  tertiary.  The  cretaceous  rocks  have 
suffered  slight  disturbance,  and  at  the  Abrolhos  it  is 
worthy  of  note  that  they  are  associated  with  volcanic  de 
posits. 

At  the  time  of  the  deposition  of  the  cretaceous,  the  north- 


RESUME  OF  THE  GEOLOGY  OF  BRAZIL.        557 

ern  part  of  South  America  was  depressed  more  than  at  pres 
ent,  while  the  coast  of  the  southern  provinces  of  Brazil 
seems  to  have  been  higher  than  now. 

In  speaking  of  the  cretaceous  of  South  America,  M. 
D'Archiac,  Geologie  et  Paleontologie,  p.  624,  says :  — 

"Nous  avons  fait  voir  que,  d'apres  les  recherches  de  M.  H. 
Karsten,  confirmees  depuis  par  celles  de  M.  Wall,  on  pouvait 
presumer  que  Fetage  inferieur  de  la  craie  tuffeau,  le  gault  et  une 
partie  du  groupe  neocomien  etaient  representes  dans  le  Venezuela, 
particuliei'ement  dans  les  cordilleres  de  Merida  et  Truxillo.  Tous 
les  calcaires  cretaces  des  chaines  de  ce  pays,  comme  ceux  du  meme 
age,  que  Ton  suit  jusqu'au  Chili,  sont  d'ailleurs  entierement  noirs, 
bitumineux  et  semblables  &  ceux  des  grandes  montagnes  de 
TEurope." 

Tertiary.  —  The  clays  and  ferruginous  sandstone  forming 
the  coast  plains  outside  the  cordilheira  are  undisturbed, 
and  overlie  the  cretaceous  unconformably.  They  are  over 
laid  by  the  drift-clays,  which  descend  from  the  cordilheira 
and  cover  their  glaciated  surfaces,  so  that,  though  I  have 
nowhere  found  fossils  in  them,  I  have  felt  justified  in 
referring  them  to  the  tertiary.  The  horizontal  beds  of 
clays,  sandstone,  &c.,  of  the  Jequitinhonha  and  Sao  Fran 
cisco  valley  are  everywhere  undisturbed,  even  where  they 
closely  approach  the  coast  where  the  cretaceous  rocks  have 
suffered  upheaval.  They  resemble  the  coast  beds,  except 
that  they  are  thicker,  stand  at  a  very  much  higher  level, 
and  in  some  cases  form  beds  of  pure  sandstone  and  con 
glomerate  with  limestone  and  iron  ore.  They,  too,  are  cov 
ered  by  the  drift-clays.  I  suppose  that  they  are  also  ter 
tiary,  but  older  than  the  coast  clays.  To  the  same  group 
evidently  belong  the  horizontal  deposits  of  the  plateau  of 
Sao  Paulo,  similar  strata  occupying  the  upper  part  of  the 


GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

valley  of  the  Parahyba  do  Sul,  and  the  clays  and  sand 
stones  of  the  elevated  plains  of  the  north.  These  beds 
must  have  been  deposited  when  the  continent  stood  at 
a  level  full  3,000  feet  lower  than  at  present.  The  mate 
rial  was  evidently  derived  from  the  wearing  away  of  the 
decomposed  gneissose  rocks,  and  it  appears  to  have  been 
deposited  rapidly  in  a  muddy  sea,  not  favorable  for  the 
existence  of  life.  After  these  beds  were  deposited  the 
coast  rose  very  uniformly,  and  they  suffered  very  exten 
sive  denudation.  Along  the  coast  outside  the  cordilheira 
there  were  deposited,  probably  in  a  large  part  made  up  of 
the  results  of  the  older  beds,  the  coast  sandstones  and  clays. 
According  to  my  own  observation  the  upper  level  of  the 
coast  clays  south  of  Bahia  is  always  much  below  the  level 
of  the  lowest  beds  of  the  older  beds.  I  have  never  seen 
them  tie  in  with  one  another,  but  I  strongly  suspect  that  in 
the  vicinity  of  Monte  Pascoal  an  outlier  of  the  older  beds 
lies  surrounded  by  the  newer. 

The  stratified  and  loose  sands  and  clays  of  the  Taboleiros 
at  Alagoinhas  appear  to  be  older  than  the  drift.  They  are 
certainly  newer  than  the  Coast  Tertiary  group.  They  need 
much  more  study,  and  I  must  confess  that  there  are  some 
puzzling  points  in  connection  with  them.* 

Drift.  —  In  South  America  from  Tierra  del  Fuego  north 
ward,  to  at  least  41°  S.,  glacial  phenomena  have  been 
observed  and  reported  by  Darwin  and  others,  and  these 
phenomena  appear  to  be  identical  with  those  so  well  studied 
in  the  northern  hemisphere.  Drift  occurs  in  the  Falkland 
Islands  (Darwin),  Australia,  and  New  Zealand.  The  An 
tarctic  Continent  is  buried  in  ice  and  snow.  No  doubt  can 
exist  that  a  drift  period  prevailed  over  the  southern  part  of 

*  Tertiary  rocks  arc  found  over  large  areas  both  north  and  south  of  Brazil. 


RESUME  OF  THE  GEOLOGY  OF  BRAZIL.        559 

the  southern  hemisphere.  D'Archiac*  has  already  called 
attention  to  the  fact  that  no  mention  of  either  striae,  fur 
rows,  or  polished  surfaces  has  been  made  by  those  who  have 
studied  the  drift  of  South  America,  which  seems  very  re 
markable.  He  suggests  that  it  may  be  perhaps  owing  to 
a  want  of  attention  on  the  part  of  the  travellers. 

It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that,  when  Professor  Agassiz 
claimed  in  1865  to  have  found  glacial  drift  in  the  vicinity 
of  Rio,  scientific  men  were  astonished  and  doubted  the  cor 
rectness  of  the  Professor's  deductions  ;  and  when  from  under 
the  equator  he  reported  the  discovery  of  glacial  moraines 
the  statement  seemed  past  belief. 

In  the  preceding  pages,  in  connection  with  a  careful 
description  of  the  Brazilian  coast,  I  have  noted  with  much 
detail  the  occurrence  of  certain  surface  deposits  northward 
to  Pernambuco,  at  least,  which  deposits  I  have  claimed  to 
be  glacial  drift.  I  propose  now  in  this  chapter  to  bring 
together  as  concisely  as  possible  all  the  facts  bearing  upon 
this  subject,  and  then  to  discuss  them  for  the  purpose  of 
showing  that  no  other  hypothesis  than  that  of  the  glaciation 
of  the  coast  is  sufficient  to  account  for  them. 

Yon  Eschwege  describes  a  formation  which  is  known  in 
Minas  Geraes  as  Tapanoaeanga.^  It  consists  of  angular 

*   G&oloyie  et  Pafcontologie,  p.  719. 

t  Von  Eschwege,  in  his  Georjnostisches  Gemalde  von  Brasilien,  p.  30,  gives  so 
interesting  an  account  of  the  Tapanhoacanga  that  I  translate  it  almost  entire. 
He  says :  "  This  rock  is  composed  of  sharp-cornered,  angular,  rarely  slightly 
rounded  fragments  of  micaceous  iron  (eiseny!imrner),  specular  iron,  and  mag 
netic  oxide  of  iron,  held  together  by  a  red,  yellow,  or  brown  ochreous  cement. 
These  fragments  are  from  several  lines  to  eight  inches  in  diameter.  It  is 
often  very  auriferous,  and  contains  sometimes  scales  of  talc,  chlorite,  and 
here  and  there  fragments  of  itacolumite.  The  cement  becomes  in  some  places 


560  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

or  rounded  fragments  of  micaceous  iron  and  other  rocks 
cemented  together  by  an  ochreous  paste,  which  sometimes 
exists  without  the  gravel.  This  formation,  with  a  thickness 
of  .from  six  to  nine  feet,  more  or  less,  he  states,  wraps  the 
highest  mountains  round  about  like  a  mantle.  The  same 
material  is  found  elsewhere.  Mawe,  in  his  description  of 
the  mines-  of  Jaragua  in  Sao  Paulo,  speaks  of  the  gold  as 

so  abundant  that  the  embedded  pieces  are  not  visible ;  this  then  forms  dis 
tinct  deposits  of  red  ironstone  in  thin  layers,  containing  ordinarily  many 
little  flakes  of  mica.  This  rock  is  not  only  found  in  the  valleys  and  on 
the  slopes  of  the  mountains,  but  it  covers  their  most  elevated  ridges  and 
flanks  like  a  sort  of  mantle  from  half  a  toise  to  a  toise  and  a  half  in  thick 
ness  [a  toise  equals  6,395  feet] ;  it  is  in  general  superimposed  upon  the  fer 
ruginous  schist  and  clay-slate.  The  most  important  foreign  mineral  depos 
its  found  in  it  are  brown  haematite  and  wavellite,  which  occur  in  consider 
able  masses  near  Villa  Rica The  Serra  do  Tapanhoacanga  near  Con- 

gonhas  do  Campo  (Province  of  Minas),  whose  summit  rises  to  a  height  of 
4,800  feet,  is  completely  covered,  over  an  area  of  several  miles ;  all  the  flank 
of  the  mountain  where  Villa  Rica  is  situated  is  incrusted  with  it ;  the  surface 
is  overturned  by  the  mining  works.  The  Campo  de  Saramenha,  vis-a-vis,  is  as 
if  paved  with  it.  It  is  abundant  along  the  route  from  Villa  Rica  to  Serro  do 
Frio ;  it  is  probably  also  found  in  the  Province  of  Goyaz.  Tapanhoacanga  sig 
nifies  in  an  African  idiom  *  negro's  head ;  the  miners  have  given  this  name  to 
the  rock  in  question  because  of  its  uneven,  knotty  surface,  which  appears  con 
cretionary  like  an  haematite.  It  is  difficult  to  explain  the  origin  of  this  con 
glomerate.  The  angular  fragments,  the  irregularity  with  which  they  are  piled 
up  one  on  the  other,  the  manner  in  which  this  rock  covers,  like  a  coat  or  glaz 
ing,  the  top  and  flanks  of  the  mountains,  tend  to  make  one  believe  that  it  is  not 
the  result  of  the  rapid  degradation  of  the  ferruginous  mountains  which  formed 
only  the  most  elevated  points  in  the  country,  and  of  which  the  peak  of  Itabira, 
the  Serra  da  Piedade,  and  others  are  the  remains,  but  that  it  is  due  to  the  ex 
tremely  prompt  drying  up  of  the  liquid,  which  sojourned  formerly  on  the  moun 
tains,  and  has  brought  there  the  fragments  which  to-day  cover  them.  These 
could  not  follow  the  liquid  to  the  bottom  of  the  valleys,  and  were  arrested,  like 
solidified  lavas,  on  the  midst  of  the  slopes.  The  disorder  with  which  they  are 
piled  up  proves  sufficiently  that  the  deposit  was  not  gradually  made."  Castel- 
nau  says  that  the  canga  is  certainly  of  phi  tonic  origin  ! 

*  This  is  not  African,  but  Tupi,  Tapanhitna  meaning  negro,  and  acanga  head. 


RESUME  OF  THE  GEOLOGY  OF  BRAZIL.        561 

occurring  in  a  layer  of  cascalho, —  he  writes  it  incorrectly 
cascalhao,  —  or  gravel  of  rounded  pebbles,  principally  quartz, 
which  wraps  the  hills  round  about,  and  is  covered  by  a 
sheet  of  soil.  This  surface  deposit  rests  on  gneiss.  At 
Minas  Novas  the  gold,  as  we  have  already  described,  has 
been  mined  from  a  similar  gravel  composed  of  rounded 
quartz  pebbles,  &c.,  with  a  ferruginous  cement,  and  over 
laid  by  a  similar  bed  of  clay,  the  whole  resting  on  clay-slate 
decomposed  in  place. 

At  Rio  the  rounded  surface  of  the  decomposed  gneiss  is 
covered  by  the  same  sheet  of  quartz  pebbles  and  overlying 
clays,  and  all  the  province,  except  the  flat  alluvial  plains, 
such  as  border  the  coast,  and  whose  elevation  is  usually  less 
than  twenty  feet,  is  covered  with  the  same  deposit  to  the 
tops  of  the  highest  hills  I  have  examined.  The  pebble 
sheet,  it  is  true,  varies  in  thickness,  and  in  some  localities  is 
absent,  especially  over  areas  in  which  quartz  veins  are  not 
abundant.  In  some  places  the  pebbles  are  coarse,  in  others 
fine,  and  occasionally  we  find  intermingled  with  them  frag 
ments  of  gneiss,  trap  or  tertiary  sandstone.  We  find  these 
surface  deposits  everywhere  lying  immediately  over  a 
rounded  surface  of  gneiss,  albeit  the  rock  may  be  decom 
posed  to  a  great  depth.  The  pebbles  and  rock  fragments 
are  not  confined  to  the  pebble  sheet  alone,  but,  sometimes 
rounded,  sometimes  angular,  they  are  frequently  found  in 
the  overlying  clay.  This  last  may  vary  greatly  in  thickness 
and  color,  but  the  general  composition  is  very  uniformly 
the  same.  The  whole  deposit  is  everywhere  without  struc 
ture,  presenting  no  trace  of  stratification.  The  same  layers 
extend  over  the  provinces  south  of  Rio.  To  the  northward 
they  are  found  all  over  Minas.  I  have  seen  them  covering 
uniformly  the  hills  of  Espirito  Santo,  and  the  coast  of 

24*  jj 


562  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

Bahia,  Sergipe,  Alag6as,  and  Pernambuco.  Northward  I 
have  myself  not  seen  these  deposits,  but  Professor  Agassiz 
reports  their  existence  in  various  localities  on  the  coast 
north  of  Pernambuco,  and  in  the  valley  of  the  Amazonas 
westward  to  the  confines  of  Peru. 

At  Rio,  as  described  by  Professor  Agassiz  in  the  "  Journey 
in  Brazil,"  and  by  myself  in  the  chapter  on  Rio  de  Janeiro, 
there  are,  in  the  valley  of  Tijuca,  near  Rio,  and  elsewhere, 
deposits  of  immense  boulders  of  trap,  gneiss,  <fcc.,  which 
are  evidently  morainic  and  the  work  of  local  glaciers ;  and 
the  Professor  has  described  similar  moraines  as  existing  in 
the  Province  of  Ccara.  The  pebble  and  clay  sheet  covers  a 
large  portion  of  the  province  of  Minas,  and  is  found  not 
only  on  the  hills,  but  on  the  campos.  In  the  provinces  of 
Bahia,  Sergipe,  Alagoas,  and  of  the  north  there  is,  as  I  have 
described,  a  zone  of  dry  country,  lying  just  behind  the  coast 
forest  belt,  and  largely  composed  of  gneiss,  mica-slate,  and 
the  like,  over  which  the  surface  deposits  consist  of  boulders 
of  rock  of  all  sizes,  rounded  and  angular,  scattered  over  the 
surface,  and  sometimes  piled  up  in  confusion,  with  very 
little  soil,  the  rock  frequently  being  bare  :  with  these  occur 
rounded  quartz  pebbles.  The  surface  of  the  gneiss  country 
in  this  dry  zone  in  Bahia,  as  observed  by  Messrs.  Allen 
and  Nicolay,  and  in  Sergipe  and  Alagoas  by  myself,  is  re 
markably  even,  and  over  large  tracts  forms  a  plain.  The 
topography  is  remarkable  for  shallow  depressions  without 
outlets,  forming  ponds  during  the  rainy  season.  Mr.  Allen 
describes  having  seen  immense  pot-holes  worn  in  the  rocks 
by  the  action  of  falling  water  on  some  of  the  highest  swell 
ings  and  elevations  of  these  plains,  now  far  away  from  any 
obstacle  over  which  water  could  be  precipitated. 

Such,  in  brief,  are  the  characteristic  features  of  the  sur- 


RESUME  OF  THE  GEOLOGY  OF  BRAZIL.        563 

face  deposits  of  the  Brazilian  coast,  to  which  I  have  applied 
the  name  of  drift.  I  have  many  times  called  attention  to 
the  rounded  surface  on  which  the  drift  rests,  though  I  have 
nowhere  seen  either  polished  or  striated  rocks,  which  is 
not  at  all  wonderful,  as  the  surface  of  the  rock,  wherever 
I  have  examined  it,  even  where  the  decomposition  was  least, 
as  on  the  Rio  de  Sao  Francisco  below  the  Falls  of  Paulo 
AfFonso,  was  always  more  or  less  decomposed. 

Nowhere  over  the  whole  region  covered  by  the  drifts  do 
we  find  other  water  deposits  than  those  clearly  referable  to 
the  action  of  rivers  or  lakes.  Above  the  old  sea  level  of 
Rio,  Victoria,  Bahia,  &c.  there  are  neither  raised  beaches 
nor  any  other  testimony  of  the  action  of  the  sea. 

All  this  immense  sheet  of  structureless  clays,  gravels,  and 
boulder  deposits  stretching  along  the  whole  coast,  and  cov 
ering  alike  the  coast  tertiary  plains,  the  elevated  campos, 
and  the  serras  from  bottom  to  top,  belongs  to  the  same  for 
mation,  and  is  referable  to  the  work  of  the  same  geological 
agent.  "We  have  claimed  with  Professor  Agassiz,  to  whom 
belongs  the  honor  of  the  first  announcement  of  the  occur 
rence  of  drift  in  Brazil,  that  that  agent  was  glacier  ice. 
This  hypothesis  has  been  much  disputed,  and  many  other 
ways  of  accounting  for  the  formation  of  the  sheet  of  detritus 
have  been  proposed.  Among  them  the  most  important  are 
the  following,  the  respective  merits  of  each  of  which  we 
propose  to  examine  in  detail :  — 

I.  Sub-aerial  decomposition. 

II.  Wave  action  acting  over  the  surface  of  the  country 
during  a  slow  subsidence  of  the  coast. 

III.  Wave  action  extending  over  the  surface  during  a 
slow  rise  of  the  land. 

I.   Decomposition.  —  We   have  seen   how  decomposition 


564  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

may,  as  at  Rio  in  the  case  of  trap-dikes,  at  Victoria,  and 
on  the  islands  of  the  Abrolhos,  produce,  with  the  aid  of 
rains,  not  only  a  soil,  but  boulders  of  decomposition,  which 
may  be  rounded  or  angular,  and  resemble  drift  boulders 
so  closely  as  to  make  it  exceedingly  difficult  to  distin 
guish  them  from  erratics.  One  can  easily  conceive  how, 
in  the  gradual  decomposition  of  a  bare  surface  of  rock, — 
gneiss,  for  example,  —  as  the  rock  wasted,  the  resulting 
clay  and  sand  may  be  washed  away,  and  spread  over  the 
surface  of  the  soil  on  the  lower  grounds.  Such  is  indeed 
the  case,  and  one  sees  at  the  foot  of  the  gneiss  precipices, 
not  only  at  Rio,  but  elsewhere,  a  soil  of  this  kind.  It 
closely  resembles  the  drift,  but  is  more  washed,  the  sandy 
portion  remaining  near  the  foot  of  the  precipice,  while  the 
muddy  part  is  carried  farther  off. 

Where  the  surface  of  a  hill  is  very  uneven,  unfurnished 
with  soil,  and  strewn  with  blocks  of  rock,  as  in  the  dry  zone 
of  Bahia,  and  the  Sao  Francisco,  one  may  readily  see  how  by 
decomposition  a  structureless  soil  might  be  formed  covering 
the  surface ;  but  there  are  a  few  facts  which  make  this  whole 
hypothesis  of  the  formation  of  the  drift  of  no  value.  In 
bluffs,  natural  or  otherwise,  in  the  vicinity  of  Rio,  as  well  as 
in  the  cuttings  on  the  Dom  Pedro  Segundo  and  Cantagallo 
railways,  and  on  the  Uniao  e  Industria  road,  and  in  the 
Minas  Novas  region,  one  may  see  a  great  thickness  of  the 
surface  deposit  lying  on  rock  decomposed  in  situ,  and  lying 
undisturbed  on  the  solid  rock.  Though  in  old  excavations 
it  is  very  difficult,  in  any  fresh  cutting  it  is  the  easiest  thing 
in  the  world  to  point  out  the  line  of  separation  between  the 
surface  detritus  and  the  decomposed  rock,*  which,  by  the 
by,  may  have  only  the  very  thinnest  coating  of  clay,  or  may 

*  This  line  is  shown  in  the  engraving1  on  page  508. 


KESUMti   OF   THE   GEOLOGY   OF  BRAZIL.  565 

be  bare.  The  distinction  between  this  drift  and  the  de 
composed  rock  is  of  the  sharpest  kind.  The  surface  deposit 
is  without  structure,  and  has  the  same  appearance  that  the 
decomposed  rock  below  would  have  if  it  were  ground  up, 
and  intimately  mixed  together  without  washing,  while  in  a 
mass  of  the  decomposed  rock  one  sees  the  relative  arrange 
ment  of  the  materials  preserved  undisturbed,  with  the  quartz 
veins,  &c.,  in  place.  The  veins  invariably  terminate  ab 
ruptly  at  the  line  separating  the  decomposed  rock  from  the 
overlying  deposit. 

One  never  sees  a  quartz  vein  traceable  through  the  clays, 
as  it  certainly  would  be  if  these  had  resulted  from  decom 
position  alone.  The  clay  is  usually  remarkably  free  from 
quartz  pebbles  or  boulders,  and  one  rarely  sees  even  a  peb 
ble  on  the  surface  of  the  ground  in  the  gneiss  regions  near 
Rio,  which  would  certainly  not  be  the  case  if  it  were  simply 
a  product  of  decomposition.  The  greatest  objection  to 
the  theory  under  discussion  is  presented  by  the  sheet  of 
rounded  and  angular  quartz  pebbles,  for  that  could  never 
have  originated  through  decomposition.  It  is  evidently  the 
result  of  mechanical  action  of  some  kind,  and  I  am  con 
vinced  that  we  must  refer  the  overlying  clay-sheet  to  the 
same  cause.  It  is  evident  that  the  agent,  whatever  it  was, 
that  rounded  the  pebbles  and  ground  up  the  clays  must 
have  had  some  part  to  play  in  the  moulding  of  the  country, 
though  it  is  to  erosion  and  decomposition  that  I  should 
attribute  the  broader  topographical  features  of  the  coast, 
and  I  would  refer  to  the  agent  that  formed  the  drift  the 
moulding  of  the  actual  surface  on  which  the  superficial 
deposits  now  rest. 

Let  us  now  discuss  the  merits  of  the  hypothesis  that  the 
surface  detritus  has  been  the  result  of  water  action,  and 


566  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL  GEOGRAPHY. 

examine  the  two  theories  of  wave  action  brought  to  bear 
over  the  country  during  a  gradual  rise  of  the  land  from 
the  sea,  and  of  similar  action  exerted  in  like  manner  over 
the  country  during  a  subsidence. 

II.  Wave  Action  during"  a  Rise  of  the  Land.  —  It  has  been 
suggested  that,  in  a  rise  of  the  land,  wave  action  brought  to 
bear  over  the  surface  might  leave  a  coating  of  loose  mate 
rial  similar  to  the  drift  strewn  over  the  whole  country,  but 
I  must  confess  that,  even  for  a  single  isolated  hill,  I  can 
not  see  how  this  theory  would  have  the  slightest  weight, 
for  it  could  never  produce  an  arrangement  of  the  materials 
such  as  actually  exists.  Suppose,  for  instance,  that  we  have 


a  hill  a  few  hundred  feet  in  height,  and  which  is  rising. 
At  a  certain  time  the  sea  level  is  found  at  a,  so  that 
the  waves  will  wash  the  hill-top.  No  one  who  has  been 
on  the  sea -shore  will  doubt  that  the  effect  will  be  to 
remove  the  finer  materials,  and  carry  them  off  to  be  de 
posited  somewhere  in  quiet  water  ;  and  this  is  the  nat 
ural  effect  of  the  sea  where  it  breaks  against  a  slope  or 
over  a  ridge.  It  may  be  that  on  the  sides  of  the  moun 
tain  these  materials,  if  in  sufficient  abundance,  may  be 
deposited,  and  we  will  suppose  that  they  are  so  depos 
ited  at  e,  but  on  steep  slopes  we  should  not  expect  to  find 
them.  Gravels  and  sands  would  be  washed  by  the  waves 
into  deeper  water,  but  could  rest  only  on  gentle  slopes.  If 
the  slope  from  c  to  e  were  twenty  or  more  degrees,  and 


RESUME  OF  THE  GEOLOGY  OF  BRALIL.        567 

the  land  should  rise  gradually  so  as  to  bring  wave  action  to 
bear  successively  over  that  slope,  we  should  expect  to  find 
the  rock  surface  swept  quite  clean  of  loose  materials,  only 
sand  and  gravel  being  thrown  beyond  the  reach  of  the  waves 
into  hollows  or  flat  places  on  the  rocks ;  and  it  seems  to  me 
that  the  result  of  such  a  rise  would  be,  even  if  there  were 
already  a  coating  of  decomposed  rock  on  the  surface,  only 
to  wash  it  over  and  gully  it  out  on  the  hill  tops  and  sides, 
if  it  were  deep,  and  cover  it  with  sand  and  gravel,  or  to  re 
move  it  entirely,  leaving  the  hill  tops  and  sides  bare,  the 
loose  materials  being  transported  into  the  valleys,  and  there 
left  as  stratified  deposits ;  and  not  only  in  the  valleys,  but 
upon  flat  places  on  the  hill-sides,  should  we  expect  to  find 
such  deposits.  Now  we  find  nothing  of  the  sort.  Asso 
ciated  with  the  drift  are  neither  sands  nor  stratified  deposits 
of  any  kind.  Besides,  this  hypothesis  does  not  touch  the 
question  of  the  formation  of  the  great  angular  and  rounded 
boulders  unassociated  with  sands  strewn  over  the  dry  zone, 
nor  does  it  explain  the  transport  of  boulders  over  an  irreg 
ular  surface.  The  tendency  would  have  been  to  sweep  the 
hill-tops  and  the  steeper  and  seaward  slopes  bare,  which 
is  not  the  case. 

III.  Wave  Action  during  a  Subsidence.  —  The  hypothesis 
of  the  action  of  waves  over  the  country  during  a  slow 
subsidence  of  the  land  is  equally  untenable.  On  a  gentle 
slope  sands  and  gravels  would  be  formed,  and  perhaps 
deposited  immediately  upon  the  rock,  and  this  sheet  one 
might  suppose  drawn  up  like  a  curtain  over  the  hills  as 
the  land  sank.  The  lighter  materials  settling  in  deeper 
water  might,  at  the  same  time,  form  a  sheet  drawn  up 
over  the  first,  so  that  we  might  have  the  surface  covered 
by  a  sheet  of  sand  and  pebbles  and  over  this  a  sheet  of  clay. 


568  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

But  we  have  the  pebble  sheet  unaccompanied  by  washed 
sands,  which  is  something  incomprehensible  under  this 
hypothesis,  and,  what  is  of  more  importance,  we  find  them 
lying  on  slopes  so  steep  that  it  would  be  impossible  for  them 
to  remain  unless  supported  by  the  weight  of  the  overlying 
clay.  It  is  incomprehensible  how  water  could  have  formed 
these  deposits  without  at  the  same  time  laying  down  strati 
fied  beds  of  sand,  gravel,  &c.  in  the  valleys,  or  of  leaving 
sand  deposits  on  the  plains.  It  is  impossible  that  the  sea 
should  have  been  without  currents  and  without  tides,  and  the 
inevitable  effect  of  their  action  would  be  to  sweep  away  the 
lighter  material  and  deposit  it  along  the  shore.  In  the  ter 
tiary  beds,  not  only  of  the  coast,  but  of  the  interior,  we  have 
an  example  of  a  sandy  deposit  rapidly  thrown  down  in  a 
muddy  sea,  and  which,  besides  sand,  contains  a  very  large 
percentage  of  clay,  passing  even  into  pure  white  clay ;  but 
nowhere  is  it  difficult  to  distinguish  these  tertiary  deposits 
from  the  drift.  The  tertiary  clays  were  the  products  of 
the  destruction  of  gneiss  and  other  metamorphic  rocks, 
and  so  was  the  drift,  but  in  the  former  the  material 
has  been  washed,  though  rarely  ever  arranged.  The  mica 
has  been  completely  destroyed,  and  one  sees  nothing  of 
it,  while  in  the  drift-earth  it  is  constantly  to  be  found. 
One  would  expect  that,  if  the  Brazilian  drift  were  a  sedi 
mentary  deposit,  the  clays  would  resemble  those  of  the  ter 
tiary,  which  is  nowhere  the  case.  They  are  everywhere 
just  such  a  material  as  would  result  from  the  mechanical 
trituration  of  the  rocks,  and  are  wholly  without  stratifica 
tion  or  signs  of  having  been  deposited  by  the  action  of 
water.  There  has  been  within  recent  times  a  slow  eleva 
tion  of  the  Brazilian  coast.  In  sheltered  as  well  as  exposed 
situations  the  deposits  which  it  has  brought  above  the  sur- 


RESUME  OF  THE  GEOLOGY  OF  BRAZIL.        569 

face  consist  of  sand ;  gravels  and  clays  are  exceedingly 
rare  along  the  exposed  coast.  Nowhere  in  river,  lake,  or 
sea  deposits  have  I  ever  seen  on  the  Brazilian  coast  any 
thing  resembling  the  drift-clays.  I  have  studied  with  care 
the  effect  of  the  action  of  the  sea  on  the  solid  rocks  of 
all  kinds  along  the  coast,  with  the  view  to  ascertain,  if 
possible,  whether  the  peculiar  evenly  moulded  surface  cov 
ered  by  the  drift  could  in  any  way  be  due  to  water  action 
joined  to  the  effects  of  decomposition.  Where  the  rock 
is  gneiss  and  very  homogeneous  in  structure,  and  not  well 
bedded,  as  is  the  case  in  the  range  of  hills  skirting  the  sea 
shore  on  both  sides  of  the  entrance  to  the  bay  of  Rio,  the 
rocks  swept  by  the  waves  may  have  a  very  smooth  and  reg 
ular  outline,  but  where,  as  on  the  shores  near  Boa  Yiagem 
at  Rio,  Os  Busos,  Ilhdos,  or  Bahia,  the  rock  is  well  bedded 
and  the  strata  are  very  highly  inclined,  the  softer  beds  give 
way  first  and  leave  the  harder  projecting,  and  the  rocks 
within  reach  of  the  waves  are  worn  in  the  most  irregular 
manner.  Now  I  do  not  see  how  we  can  resist  the  conclu 
sion  that,  if  the  surface  clays  and  gravels  were  the  products 
of  wave  action,  we  ought  to  find  the  surface  of  the  rock  on 
which  they  rest  showing  some  signs  of  that  action  in  the 
wearing  away  of  the  softer  beds,  leaving  the  harder  stand 
ing  up ;  but  this  is  never  the  case.  There  can  be  no  transi 
tion  more  abrupt  than  that  from  a  wave-washed,  rock-bound 
shore,  and  the  smooth,  even  outlines  of  the  hills  above  the 
line  of  wave  action.  Take,  for  instance,  the  coast  between 
the  lighthouse  at  Bahia  and  the  Morro  do  Conselho,  which 
is  to  a  large  extent  rocky,  and  examine  the  moulding  of  the 
rocks  washed  by  the  Atlantic  surf,  and  then  compare  it  with 
the  moulding  of  the  rock  on  the  seaward  side  of  any  of  the 
exposed  hills,  where,  if  washed  by  the  sea,  the  rock  would 


570  GEOLOGY   AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

have  been  subjected  to  the  pounding  of  the  same  surf,  and 
you  will  be  convinced  that  the  moulding  of  the  drift-covered 
rock-surface  was  due  to  an  agent  that  did  not  respect  so 
thoroughly  the  difference  in  hardness  between  the  beds  as 
water  does.  It  is  useless  to  suppose  that  the  sea  might 
have  washed  against  a  decomposed  surface  which  might 
have  been  rounded  down  by  the  surf.  The  wash  of  the 
waves  would  have  removed  it  entirely.  The  rounded  wave- 
washed  rocks  on  the  shores  of  Rio  are  bare,  and  it  is  incon 
ceivable  how,  in  the  face  of  the  tremendous  Atlantic  surf, 
they  could  ever  be  covered  by  detritus  by  wave  action,  as 
all  the  hills  lying  along  the  coast  of  Bahia  and  Rio  inva 
riably  are.  Along  the  coast  where  decomposition  prevails, 
from  the  wetness  of  the  climate,  the  clays  are  very  abun 
dant,  and  it  is  a  rare  thing  to  find  boulders  of  any  other 
rock  than  quartz ;  but  in  measure,  as  one  goes  inland  and 
approaches  the  dry  zone,  as  is  beautifully  seen  on  the  Sao 
Francisco,  the  clays  grow  less  abundant  while  the  pebble- 
layer  gradually  passes  into  a  sheet  of  boulders  of  rock  scat 
tered  over  the  surface  with  little  admixture  of  earth.  The 
rock  being  of  the  same  general  character  over  large  areas, 
it  is  usually  a  difficult  matter  to  decide  whether  a  boulder 
is  travelled  or  not ;  *  but  I  have  seen  at  Piranhas  syenite 
boulders  lying  on  gneiss,  though  evidently  coming  from  not 
far  away,  and  I  have  seen  gneiss  and  quartz  boulders  lying 
in  the  clays  on  the  tertiary  plain  on  the  Mucury.  I  have 
already  called  attention  to  the  intermixture  of  greenstone 
and  gneiss  boulders  of  immense  size  in  the  valley  of  Tijuca, 
occupying  situations  into  which  water  could  not  have 
brought  them,  and  into  which  they  could  not  have  fallen. 

*  This  is  an  important  point  to  bear  in  mind.     The  geology  of  Brazil  is  so 
very  simple  that  we  find  the  same  kind  of  rock  over  immense  areas. 


RESUME  OF  THE  GEOLOGY  OF  BRAZIL.        571 

No  one  seeing  the  boulder-scattered  surface  of  Bahia  and 
the  Sao  Francisco,  where  the  decomposition  is  exceedingly 
slight,  would  ever,  I  am  persuaded,  seek  for  an  explanation 
of  the  distribution  of  these  masses  over  the  surface  in  run 
ning  water  or  wave  action,  which  last  would  have  been  pow 
erless  over  so  uniformly  level  a  surface.  I  must  insist  upon 
the  fact  that  the  unarranged  materials  are  precisely  like  our 
unmodified  drift  in  the  north,  and  that  the  surface  of  the 
rock  on  which  they  lie  has  the  moulding  of  the  surfaces  on 
which  our  northern  drift  lies,  and  that  if  we  refer  the  north 
ern  drift  to  the  action  of  glacier  ice,  we  must  do  the  same 
thing  for  the  Brazilian  surface  detritus,  contrary  as  it  is  to 
all  our  preconceived  opinions  of  the  distribution  of  drift. 
The  fact  that  neither  Professor  Agassiz  nor  myself,  nor 
any  one  else  of  our  expedition,  has  been  able  to  discover 
glacial  stria)  in  Brazil  is  of  very  secondary  importance.  The 
drift  itself  exists  all  over  the  country,  and  it  cannot  be 
explained  away.  I  have  looked  carefully  for  stria?,  but 
there  has  been  everywhere  enough  decomposition  of  the  sur 
face  of  the  rock  as  well  as  of  the  boulders  scattered  over  it 
to  have  destroyed  all  trace  of  them.  Once  I  thought  I  had 
found  striae.  On  the  Dom  Pedro  Segundo  Railroad,  near 
Mendes,  while  engaged  in  making  an  examination  of  the 
cuttings,  I  found  one  in  which  the  drift-clay  had  been 
removed  from  over  the  decomposed  gneiss,  exposing  the  gla 
ciated  surface.  This  appeared  to  be  quite  fresh,  and  to  my 
surprise  was  deeply  furrowed  with  parallel  strise.  I  took 
pains  to  inquire  of  the  engineers  of  the  road,  and  learned 
that  the  drift  had  slid  off  from  the  upper  part  of  the  cutting, 
which  was  a  sufficient  explanation.  I  speak  of  this  only  in 
order  to  put  other  observers  on  their  guard  against  being 
deceived  by  any  similarly  striated  surfaces.  I  can  offer  but 


572  GEOLOGY  AND  PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

one  explanation  of  the  formation  of  the  pot-holes  observed 
by  Mr.  Allen,  and  that  is  that  they  were  formed  by  glacial 
cascades  in  the  same  way  as  the  pot-holes  seen  so  often 
on  the  surface  of  ridges  in  the  north  have  been  formed 
during  the  drift ;  for,  according  to  the  testimony  of  Mr. 
Allen,  the  pot-holes  of  the  Province  of  Bahia  occur  on 
the  gneiss  plains,  far  away  from  any  present  obstacle  over 
which  the  water  may  have  flowed.  Mr.  Allen  describes 
them  as  being  exceedingly  well  preserved,  and  having 
smooth  sides. 

The  drift  is,  as  above  stated,  removed  everywhere  down 
to  the  limit  of  wave  action  before  the  later  elevation  of 
the  coast ;  but  the  occurrence  of  the  drift  on  some  out 
lying  hillocks  of  the  tertiary  clays  on  the  line  of  the  exten 
sion  of  the  Cantagallo  Railroad,  between  Porto  Novo  and 
Porto  das  Caixas,  which  are  now  surrounded  by  recent 
sands,  made  me  suspect  that  the  clay  was  once  continuous 
below  the  present  sea  level  between  them  and  the  main 
land.  The  fact,  too,  that  it  extended  uniformly  down  to 
the  same  level  everywhere  was  almost  sufficient  proof  that 
it  formerly  extended  to  a  much  lower  level.  At  Bahia,  as 
already  described,  recent  sands  blown  or  washed  over  the 
drift  have  been  cemented  and  have  protected  it  from  the 
action  of  the  sea,  so  that  it  may  be  seen  extending  beneath 
them  down  nearly  to  low  tide.  This  fact  seems  to  prove 
satisfactorily  that  formerly  the  land  stood  at  a  higher  level 
even  than  now.*  Drift  occurs  on  some  of  the  islands  off  the 
coast. 

*  From  the  observations  of  Darwin  and  others  we  know  that  this  recent 
uprise  has  been  much  greater  in  the  south  than  in  the  north,  and  it  seems  to 
increase  in  going  south  from  Eio  to  the  Straits  of  Magellan.  It  would  seem 
that  the  great  movements  just  antecedent  and  posterior  to  the  drift  period  in 


RESUME  OF  THE  GEOLOGY  OF  BRAZIL.        573 

I  believe  that  during  the  time  of  the  drift  the  country 
stood  at  a  much  higher  level  than  at  present,  and  that  it 
was  covered  by  a  general  glacier.  Over  the  coast  region, 
where  decomposition  of  the  rocks  had  largely  obtained,  and 
where  the  surface  of  the  rock,  rendered  even  by  this  agent, 
had  been  covered  by  a  thick  layer  of  loose  material,  the 
glacier  reworked  this  loose  material,  and  when  it  disappeared 
left  it  as  a  paste,  in  which  the  harder  materials,  such  as 
fragments  from  quartz  veins,  &c.,  more  or  less  rounded,  were 
embedded.  The  layer  of  quartz  pebbles  underlying  the  paste 
appears  to  have  consisted  of  coarser  fragments  borne  along 
by  the  bottom  of  the  glacier,  while  the  paste  seems  to  have 
been  more  or  less  distributed  through  the  body  of  the 
glacier.  A  glacier  moving  over  the  gneiss  regions  of  Rio 
or  Espirito  Santo  to-day  would  find  few  loose  rocks  to  trans 
port,  for  the  precipices  are  smooth  and  unbroken,  and  little 
falls  from  them,  so  that  one  could  not  expect  to  see  mo 
raines  of  coarse  materials  formed  by  the  glaciers  of  that 
region,  and  if  the  ancient  glaciers  moved  over  a  country 
whose  surface  was'  decomposed,  it  is  not  wonderful  that  the 
drift  consists  of  paste  with  but  few  boulders.  On  the  con 
trary,  over  the  dry  zone  the  cliifs  are  ragged  and  broken, 
and  the  rock  surface  is  apt  to  be  broken  up,  and  we  should 
expect  to  find  over  such  a  region  drift  of  a  different  char 
acter  from  that  which  obtains  over  the  moist  coast  region, 
and  resembling  more  closely  the  drift  of  North  America. 

In  the  drift-paste  I  have  never  seen  the  slightest  trace  of 
organic  remains  of  any  kind. 

Post-Tertiary.  —  To  this  epoch  belong  the  cavern  depos- 

South  America  have  corresponded  with  those  of  North  America  during  the 
same  period.  In  North  America  the  oscillation  of  level  was  greater  in  the  north 
than  in  the  south  ;  in  South  America  it  was  just  the  reverse. 


574  GEOLOGY  AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY. 

its  in  Minas  Geraes,  affording  the  remains  of  Mastodon, 
Megatherium,  &c.,  and  the  lagoa  deposits  on  the  borders  of 
the  Rio  de  Sao  Francisco  already  described. 

Recent.  —  To  recent  times  belong  the  sands  containing 
recent  shells,  <fcc.,  exposed  by  the  late  uprise  of  the  coast, 
the  solidified  beaches,  rock  reefs  of  Pernambuco  and  else 
where,  the  coral  reefs,  the  peat  deposits,  and  the  alluvial 
beds  of  the  rivers  and  lakes. 


APPENDIX. 


OX  THE  BOTOCUDOS. 


Origin  of  the  Name  Botocudo.  —  Stature.  —  Physical  Form  and  Characteristics. 

—  Manner  of  Wearing  Hair.  —  Lip  and  Ear  Ornaments.  —  Professor  Wy man's 
Description  of  Skull  of  Botocudo  from  Sao  Matheos.  —  Comparison  with 
other  described  Botocudo  Skulls.  —  Color  of  Botocudo.  —  Manner  of  Paint 
ing  the  Body.  —  Dislike  to  being  clothed.  —  Bows  and  Arrows  described.  — 
Gerber's  Enumeration  of  the  Tribes.  —  Von  Tschudi's  Description  of  the 
Tribes.  —  Ranches  and  Huts.  —  Food.  —  Mode  of  procuring  Fire.  —  Manu 
factures.  —  Marriage   Customs.  —  The  Botocudos   cruel   Husbands.  —  Fa 
cility  with  which  Wounds  heal.  —  Treatment  of  Children.  —  Religious  Ideas. 

—  Belief  in  the  Bad  Spirit,  Janchon.  —  No  Belief  in  a  Supreme  God. — 
Burial  Customs.  —  War  Customs.  —  Cannibalism.  —  Dance.  —  The  Boto 
cudos  fast  disappearing.  —  Botocudo  Character.  —  Geographical  Distribution 
of  the  Botocudos.  —  Peculiarities  of  their  Language,  Pronunciation,  Gram 
matical  Structure,  &c.  —  Botocudo  Vocabularies. 

No  Indian  tribe  of  Brazil  save  the  Tupis  has  been  more  cele 
brated  than  that  known  as  the  Aimores,  Aimbores,  or  Botocudos, 
the  latter  being  the  name  by  which  it  is  known  in  Brazil,  as  well  as 
in  most  recent  works  on  the  country.  They  call  themselves  Enge- 
rackmung*  a  word  which  I  cannot  translate.  Miing,  in  Botocudo, 
means  to  go,  and  the  termination,  which  is  more  likely  to  be  a 
separate  word  in  the  proper  name,  probably  has  the  same  meaning, 
but  I  have  not  been  able  to  find  a  definition  for  the  remainder  of 

*  I  give  Prince  Neuwied's  orthography.  Gcrber,  also  a  German,  in  his 
Nocoes  Geograjicos,  &c.,  p.  24,  spells  the  word  Endgerelammg,  and  he  says  that 
Guido  Marliere  gives  it  Cracknnm.  The  name  Botocudo  is  spelled  by  different 
authors  in  all  possible  ways,  as,  for  instance,  Botokoudy,  Botokude,  Bootoo- 
cudy,  &c. 

VOL.  i.  25  KK 


578  APPENDIX. 

the  word.  The  name  Botocudo  was  without  doubt  applied  to  the 
tribe  by  the  Portuguese,  because  of  the  custom  of  piercing  the 
under  lip  and  the  ears,  and  inserting  therein  round,  flat  pieces  of 
wood,  like  barrel-corks,  or  botoques,  as  they  are  called  in  Portuguese. 
The  termination  udo  in  Portuguese  has  the  signification  of  fur 
nished  with,  as  in  the  words  cabelludo,  velludo.  It  is  true  that 
Bodoque  means  a  pellet  of  clay,  such  as  is  thrown  from  a  sort  of 
bow  in  use  among  the  Indians  of  Brazil,  and  that  the  same  word 
means  also  a  kind  of  stone  or  earth,  employed  by  the  Indians 
to  ornament  the  body.  Some  have  thought  that  the  name  of  the 
tribe  was  derived  from  this  word,  but  the  derivation  I  have  above 
given  is  without  doubt  the  correct  one.  The  Corografia  Brasili- 
ca  *  gives  the  same  origin  for  the  word,  and  so  do  Neuwied  and 
Von  Tschudi. 

In  Espirito  Santo  and  in  the  Mucury  region  they  are  com 
monly  called  Bugres,  a  name  which  Von  Tschudi  derives  from  the 
French.  In  Sao  Matheos  and  on  the  Doce  I  heard  them  called 
Tapuyos,  a  Tupi  word  applied  to  savages  generally. 

Judging  from  the  Botocudos  I  have  seen,  I  should,  with  Von 
Tschudi  and  M.  Serres,  describe  the  race  as  of  middling  height. 
I  have  seen  many  who  were  five  feet  ten  inches  in  height,  and 
I  remember  especially  one  powerful  fellow,  who  could  not  have 
measxired  less  than  five  feet  eleven  inches.  D'Orbigny  makes  the 

*  "As  ontras  nacres  convizinhas,  ao  mcnos  algumas  chamam-lhos  Aymbores, 
e  os  conquistadorcs  por  corrupyao  Aymore's;  mas  de  muitos  tempos  por  ca 
quasi  nao  tcm  outro  nome  entrc  os  Ohristaos  scnao  o  de  Botocudos  pelo  extra- 
vagante  e  ridicule  costume  de  furarem  as  orelhas  e  os  bei^os  e  dilatarem-nos 
notavelmente  com  rodellas  de  pan,  pareccndo-lhes  quo  fleam  assim  mais  gentis 
e  airozos." —  Corografia  BrasiUca,  Tome  II.  p.  72. 

The  Dlccionario  Geographico  derives  the  name  from  Boto  and  codea,  "  because 
the  Indians  of  this  nation  were  roJhos  [short  and  thick],  and  went  with  the  body 
covered  with  a  coating  of  gum-copal,  with  which  they  were  accustomed  to  paint 
themselves,  to  preserve  them  from  the  stings  of  mosquitoes  and  other  insects." 
This  is  a  custom  which  at  present,  at  least,  does  not  seem  to  be  in  use  among 
the  Indians. 


ON  THE   BOTOCUDOS.  579 

mean  height  of  the  male  Botocudo  1.620  metres,  and  his  extreme 
height  only  1.000  metre,  but  this  must  be  a  typographical  error.* 
According  to  M.  Porte,  the  height  of  the  male  Botocudo  varies 
from  1.85  metres  to  1.18  metres,  and  that  of  the  women  from 
1.35  metres  to  1.16  metre.f 

The  limbs  and  body  of  the  Botocudo,  though  exceedingly  strong, 
look  soft  and  effeminate,  and  the  muscles  have  not  the  same  prom 
inence  and  knottiness  seen  in  the  muscularly  developed  white  or 
negro. 

They  are  generally  broad-shouldered  and  large-bodied,  but  their 
arms,  and  especially  their  legs,  are  apt  to  be  thin,  though  very 
muscular,  and  the  latter  strike  one  as  being  disproportionately 
small,  when  compared  with  those  of  the  negro  and  white  man,  the 
calf  being  but  slightly  developed.  Von  Tschudi  calls  attention  to 
this,  and  Agassiz  speaks  of  the  small  size  of  the  legs  of  the  Indian 
in  comparison  with  his  square,  heavily  built  trunk,  but  I  have  seen 
Botocudos  as  well  proportioned  as  the  whites.  J  In  all  the  males 

*  L'llomme  Americain,  Tome  I.  p.  102. 

t   Comptes  Rendus,  Tome  XXI.  p.  5. 

J  Specimens  of  Naknenuks  were  carried  to  France  by  M.  Porte  and  were 
examined  by  M.  Serres,  who  published  in  the  Comptes  Rendus  (Tome  XXI. 
p.  7)  a  description  of  them.  I  am  not  aware  that  any  other  scientist  has  made 
a  more  detailed  study  of  the  Botocudo  than  he,  and  I  quote  a  paragraph  or  two 
from  him  relating  more  especially  to  the  configuration  of  the  trunk.  M.  Serres 
says  :  — 

"  La  poitrine  e'tait  bien  conformee  chez  I'liomme ;  un  peu  aplatie  snrlede- 
vant  elle  paraissait  d'une  seule  venue  et  ne  pre'sentait  pas  1'espece  de  voussure  quc 
Ton  rcmarque  au  niveau  du  grand  pectoral  chez  les  hommes  de  la  race  caucasique 
dcveloppes  au  mume  degre ;  voussure  qu'offniicnt  d'une  maniere  marque'e  les 
Americains  loways,  comme  on  le  remarque  chez  les  hommes  les  plus  forts  de 
la  race  caucasique.  En  revanche  elle  paraissait  plus  allongee  chez  le  Botocude 
ct  plus  large  quo  1'ordinaire  a  la  region  infe'rieure.  La  poitrine  de  la  femme 
e'tait,  en  arricre  plus  arquce,  que  celle  de  rhommc;  en  avant,  elle  s'inclinait  en 
bas  d'une  maniere  si  marque'e,  qu'il  m'a  fallu  la  mesurer  plusieurs  fois  pour 
m'assurer  qu'il  n'y  avait  rien  d'exage're  dans  le  portrait  qu'en  a  fait  notre  peintre 
si  distingue  du  Museum  M.  Verner.  De  cette  inclinaison  de  la  poitrine  re'sul- 
tait  1'abaissement  du  sein,  abaissement  qui  rappelait  celui  dcs  femmes  ethio- 


580  APPENDIX. 

the  pelvis  seemed  extraordinarily  narrow,  and  the  hinder  parts  very 
small.  The  hands  are  well  formed  but  small.  Those  of  the  women 
are  particularly  so,  as  M.  Serres  has  remarked.  The  feet  are 
smaller  than  in  the  Caucasian  race. 

The  physiognomy  of  the  Botocudos  varies  so  extraordinarily  that 
it  is  exceedingly  difficult  to  describe  its  peculiarities.  Of  a  dozen 
or  more  Botocudos  in  the  fazeuda  of  Capitao  Grande  no  two  looked 
alike.*  There  were  two  young  men  who  were  partially  civilized, 
and  spoke  Portuguese,  and  I  should  never  have  taken  them  for 
anything  else  than  very  light-colored  mulattoes.  They  all  have 
low  foreheads,  as  Von  Tschudi,  Neuwied,  and  M.  Serres  have  re 
marked.  Their  eyes  are  black,  usually  small  and  full  of  life. 
Neuwied  says  that  blue  eyes  sometimes  occur.  M.  Serres  says 
that  those  of  the  women  he  saw  were  more  open  than  those  of  the 
men.  The  exterior  angle  of  the  eye  is  sometimes  a  little  oblique. 
As  for  the  nose,  it  is  usually  rather  short :  and  in  the  four  profiles 
of  Botocudos  at  Sao  Matheos  in  my  note-book  it  is  represented  as 
having  a  concave  outline,  the  extremity  being  large,  while  the  ala> 
are  rather  wide ;  but  I  have  seen  examples  of  narrow  and  arched 
noses.  I  give  two  of  these  profiles  in  the  following  wood-cut,  f 

piques,  ct  qni  pourrait  devenir  nn  caractcre  de  grandc  importance  s'il  n'y  avnit 
rien  d'individuel  dans  cette  disposition. 

"  Comme  celui  do  I'hoinme,  le  thorax  de  la  fcmmc  etait  tres-elargi  infcrieure- 
ment ;  cet  c'largissementne  parait  avoir  sa  cause  dans  1'abaissement  dc  la  volume 
du  foie,  qui  je  rcconnus  par  la  percussion  dans  Ics  limites  infc'rieures  quo  n'atteint 
jamais  cct  organe  dans  son  etat  nature!  chez  la  femme  caucasiqne. 

"  Avec  cct  abaissement  du  foie  co'incidait  un  abaissement  de  1'ombilic,  et  h 
celui-ci  re'pondait  un  abaissement  du  pnbis,  que  je  rcconnus  avec  peine,  a  cause 
de  la  saillie  graisscuse  du  mont  de  Venus.  L 'abaissement  dc  1'ombilic  faisait 
saillir  1'abdompn  en  bas  et  surles  cotes  et  celui  du  pubis  inclinait  en  bas  et  en 
arriere  le  bassin  ;  de  la  resultait  amplcur  de  la  region  fessiere,  deja  moins  de- 
vclope'e  que  cbez  la  fcmme  caucasique." 

*  Nothing  can  be  more  false  than  the  oft-quoted  and  sweeping  assertion  of 
Ulloa :  "Vistoun  Indio  dc  qualquer  region,  se  puede  decir  que  sc  han  visto 
todos  en  quanto  el  color  y  Contestura."  —  Noticias  Americanos,  p.  252. 

t  I  do  not  offer  these  sketches  as  accurate  portraits.     They  were  drawn  from 


ON   TliE  BOTOCUDOS. 


581 


BOTOCUDO   MAN   AND    WOMAN. 

M.  Serres  describes  the  nose  of  the  men  as  straight,  and  those 
of  the  women  as  slightly  arched  at  the  base.  In  both,  according 
to  the  same  author,  the  alee  are  large,  but  more  so  in  the  men 
than  the  women. 

Neuwied's  plates  of  the  Botocudos  are  well  drawn,  but  they 
give  one  absolutely  no  idea  of  the  race.  The  chief  Krengnatmuck, 
barring  his  abominable  head,  has  the  figure  of  a  Caucasian,  while 
his  wife  might  have  posed  for  a  Venus.  Neuwied's  figures  were 'evi 
dently  drawn  from  Caucasian  models.  The  Botocudos  as  a  race  are 
very  ugly,  but  some  of  the  young  girls  might,  by  a  very  liberal 
construction  of  the  word,  be  called  pretty.  As  a  general  rule,  the 
women  have  the  abdomen  very  large,  the  breasts  flabby  and  pen 
dent,  and  not  infrequently  they  are  bow-legged.  The  children,  like 
all  Brazilian  children,  are  apt  to  fall  into  the  habit  of  dirt-eating, 
and  are  very  often  stunted,  swollen,  and  sickly.* 

nature,  and  the  outlines  are  not  far  from  correct.  I  have  introduced  them  also 
for  the  purpose  of  showing  the  appearance  of  the  pierced  car  and  lip.  The 
woman  carries  a  bag  on  her  back. 

*  I  saw  in  Brazil  a  large  number  of  children  and  adults  who  Avere  addicted 
to  this  habit.  In  most  cases  the  clay  is  not  eaten  because  of  want  of  nourish 
ment,  but  from  a  morbid  appetite.  Among  some  nations,  however,  as  the 


582  APPENDIX. 

The  cheek-bones  are  generally  quite  high,  though  not  so  much 
so  as  among  the  Tupi  descendants.  They  appear  especially  promi 
nent  in  the  emaciated  old  women,  who  are  wretchedly  ugly  in  ap 
pearance.  The  face  is  somewhat  flattened.  The  mouth  is  always 
very  large,  and  the  lips  are  quite  thick. 

The  hair  is  black,  coarse,  and  straight.  The  beard  is  of  the  same 
character,  and  very  sparse.*  They  generally  pull  it  out ;  but  I 
have  frequently  seen  men  with  a  very  sparse  beard,t  as,  for  in 
stance,  the  one  whose  profile  I  have  given.  They  sometimes  cut 
off  or  pull  out  the  eyebrows,  and  the  women  at  least  suffer  hair  to 
grow  on  no  part  of  the  body  except  the  head.  The  hair  is  always 
worn  short,  and  falls  over  the  forehead.  Sometimes  it  is  shaved 
away  for  two  or  three  finger-breadths  all  round,  with  a  razor  made 
from  bamboo  ;  but  this  custom  is  not  general,  and  none  of  those  I 
saw  at  Sao  Matheos  were  shaven  in  this  way.  The  women  usually 
wear  in  their  perforated  lips  and  ears  round  disks  of  wood  (60- 
toques),  like  the  cork  to  a  large,  wide-mouthed  bottle.  Of  the  many 
Botocudos  I  have  seen  on  the  Rio  Doce,  at  Sao  Matheos,  at  Colo- 
nia  Leopoldina,  Urucu,  and  Philadelphia,  only  the  adult  women 
had  both  ears  and  lips  pierced.  The  old  men  invariably  had  the 
ears  perforated,  but  I  do  not  remember  ever  having  seen  a  male 
with  a  hole  in  his  lip,  and  I  never  saw  a  child  with  either  ear  or  lip 
pei'forated,  which  leads  me  to  suppose  that  the  custom  is  going 
out  of  use.  The  piercing  of  the  lip  and  ear  is  performed,  according 
to  Xeuwied,  when  the  child  is  seven  or  eight  years  of  age.  Neu- 
wied  says  that  it  is  done  with  a  sharp  piece  of  wood  ;  other  writers 

Ottomacs  on  the  Orinoco,  large  quantities  of  clay  are  eaten  in  times  of  great 
scarcity  of  food.  Humboldt  has  investigated  this  subject,  in  his  usual  exhaust 
ive  manner.  Sec  his  Travels,  Bohn's  Edition,  Vol.  II.  p.  495. 

*  M.  Serres  says  (loc.  cit.)  :  "  Lcurs  cheveux  etaient  noirs,  epais,  courts,  lisses 
et  limitc's  en  demi-cercle  sur  le  front.  Ceux  de  1'homme  e'taient  plus  rudes  que 
ceux  de  la  femme." 

t  Dr.  Karl  August  Tiilsner  describes  the  Botocndos  of  the  Colonie  Leo 
poldina  as  wearing  a  sparse  beard.  (Die  Colonie  Leopoldina  in  Brasilien,  Gottin- 
gen,  1860,  p.  65.) 


ON  THE   BOTOCUDOS.  583 

say  that  the  sharp  spine  of  the  Airi  palm  is  used.  The  openings 
once  made,  small  pieces  of  wood  are  inserted  to  distend  them, 
afterwards  larger  and  larger  ones  being  used  until  the  opening  of 
the  ear  may  be,  according  to  Neuwied,  even  four  inches  in  diam 
eter  !  I  have  never  seen  a  lip-plug  in  use  more  than  two  inches 
in  diameter.  The  ear-plug  is  much  larger.  The  lip  or  ear  orna 
ment  consists  of  a  thin  section  of  the  stem  of  a  Barrigudo  tree 
(Chorisia),  which  furnishes  a  wood  quite  as  light,  if  not  lighter 
than  cork,  and  of  a  white  color.*  The  lip-plug  is  usually  about 
three  fourths  of  an  inch  thick.  The  lip  surrounds  it  like  a  thick 
red  cord  of  flesh.  It  is  usually  worn  the  most  of  the  time,  but 
may  be,  and  is  from  time  to  time,  removed.  The  lip  then  hangs 
of  course  against  the  chin,  a  hideous  loop  of  flesh,  comparable 
more  to  a  great  worm  than  anything  else,  displaying  the  teeth 
with  a  horrible  grin.  The  pressure  of  the  plug  against  the  lower 
incisors  in  front  pushes  them  out  of  place,  and  even  causes  them 
to  fall  out,  so  that  an  old  woman  with  the  lip  ornament  always 
wants  the  lower  front  teeth,  and  not  infrequently  the  upper. 
Neuwied  describes  and  figures  the  jaw  of  a  Botocudo  in  which 
the  alveolae  of  the  front  incisors  had  completely  disappeared,  leav 
ing  the  bone  as  sharp  as  a  knife. 

Neuwied,  in  the  Atlas  to  his  Travels,  on  Plate  17,  represents  four 
heads,  —  three  profiles  and  one  full  face.  These  figures  are  really  of 
very  little  value,  as  they  have  evidently  not  been  drawn  from  na 
ture.  In  Figure  I.  the  ear-plugs  are  represented  twice  as  thick  as 
they  ought  to  be,  and  the  under  lip  is  repi'esented  as  touching  the 
upper,  which  is  absolutely  impossible.  The  position  of  the  plug 
is  better  repi'esented  in  Figure  IV.  It  is  usually  carried,  in  the  re 
pose  of  the  features,  nearly  horizontally.  In  a  smile  it  is  inclined 
upwards,  and  often  touches  the  nose.  In  eating  it  may  be  taken  out, 
bxit  none  of  the  Botocudo  women  I  have  seen  eating  removed  it. 
A  more  comical  sight  than  an  old  woman  sucking  a  stick  of  sugar- 

*  Fletcher  says  that  these  plugs  are  made  from  the  wood  of  the  aloe,  which 
is  incorrect.  Ewbank  speaks  of  the  plugs  as  made  of  pito  wood,  doubtless  mean 
ing  the  same  thing. 


584  APPENDIX. 

cane  can  scarcely  be  imagined.  In  quarrels  the  perforated  ears  and 
lip  are  apt  to  suffer,  and  it  is  no  uncommon  thing  to  see  them 
broken.  In  this  case  the  ornament  is  not  necessarily  discarded. 
The  two  ends  are  then  tied  together  with  a  bit  of  bark,  or  some 
thing  of  the  sort,  and  the  plug  is  replaced.  At  Urucu  I  saw  a  rather 
young  woman  whose  lip  had  been  torn  and  tied  up.  Usually  the 
ear-plug  is  not  worn,  and  the  loop  of  flesh  is  left  dangling,  some 
times  reaching  to  the  shoulder.  When  the  plug  is  removed  the 
opening  generally  appears  very  irregular,  as  in  the  man  whose  pro 
file  I  have  given.  In  travelling  through  the  forest  this  loop  would 
be  likely  to  be  caught  against  limbs  of  trees  and  be  torn,  so  it  is 
very  often  turned  up  and  laid  over  the  ear,  which  shortens  the 
organ  in  the  first  place,  and  produces  a  horrible  deformity.  I 
observed  that  two  old  women  at  Sao  Matheos  wore  the  ear-flap  in 
this  way  even  in  camp. 

Neuwied*  cites  a  number  of  examples  of  nations  that  pierce  the 
ear  and  lip.  The  Aguitequedichagas,  Lengoas,  and  Charruas  of 
Paraguay  wore  large  blocks  of  wood  in  their  ears  and  lips,  but  the 
lip-plug  was  smaller  than  that  of  the  Botocudo.  The  Gamellas  of 
Maranhao  used  immense  wooden  lip-plugs,  and  Major  0.  C.  James 
informs  me  that  the  Bugres  of  Sao  Paulo  have  the  same  custom, 
though  it  is,  however,  now  going  out  of  use  as  the  Indians  become 
civilized.  Major  James  says  that  the  civilized  Indians  close  up  the 
opening  in  the  lip  with  wax.  The  Muras,  on  the  Amazonas,  used 
to  pierce  the  lip,  but  the  custom  is  now  abandoned.  The  Tupi- 
nambas  wore  ornaments  of  nephrite  stone  in  the  lip.  Mr.  George 
Gibbs  has  called  my  attention  to  the  fact,  that  the  Koloshians 
of  Alaska  pierce  the  lip  and  wear  a  plug.  It  is  very  interesting  to 
know  that  this  custom  obtains  among  savages  so  widely  separated. 
Wood  describes  a  nation  in  Africa  that  pierces  and  distends  the 
upper  lip  by  inserting  a  ring,  a  custom  more  hideous  than  that  of 
the  Botocudo. 

I  give  figures  of  the  skull  of  a  male  Botocudo  I  obtained  for 

*  Reise  nach  Brasilien,  Band  II.  seite  7. 


ON  THE  BOTOCUDOS. 


585 


the  Museum  of  Comparative  Zoology  at  Sao  Matheos.  The 
man's  name  was  Kupara'ck,  or  the  Onga.  He  had  died  of  disease, 
and  had  been  buried  in  the  vicinity  of  the  fazenda,  but  the  rains 
had  uncovered  the  body,  which  his  relatives  had  left  to  rot  in  a 
swamp.  A  half-civilized  Indian  led  me  to  the  spot,  and  himself  pro 
cured  for  me  the  skull,  which  we 
earned  to  the  house  and  placed 
on  a  table.  When  the  Indians 
came  in  to  supper  the  Botocudos 
gathered  around  and  made  sport 
of  it,  thrusting  their  fingers  into 
the  eyeless  sockets  and  laughing 
at  it,  though  at  the  same  time 
they  knew  that  it  belonged  to 
one  of  their  near  relations.  This 
skull  I  placed  in  the  hands  of 
Professor  Jeffries  Wyman,  of 
Cambridge,  Massachusetts,  who 

has  kindly  furnished  me  with  the  following  interesting  and  val 
uable  notes  upon  it.  "  From  the  references  in  the  Thesaurus 
Craniorum  of  Dr.  J.  Barnard  Davis,  page  235,  it  appears  that  only 

a  few  crania  of  Botocudos 
have  been  described,  —  not 
more  than  five  in  all ;  and 
of  these  but  one  has  been 
measured,  and  this  very  im 
perfectly  by  Dr.  Davis,  as 
he  had  only  a  cast,  the  origi 
nal    being    in     Stockholm. 
The  specimen  from  Sao  Ma 
theos  is,  therefore,  a  valua 
ble  addition  to  the  previous 
collections.     It  is  that  of  a  man  somewhat  advanced  in  life,  the 
teeth  gone  and   the   alveoli  largely  absorbed  ;   the   sagittal  and 
25* 


586 


APPENDIX. 


lambdoidal  sutures  are  closed  in  those  portions  where  the  two 
join.  The  side  walls  of  the  head  are  vertical  and  the  top  some 
what  roof-shaped.  The  foramen  magnum  has  about  the  same  po 
sition  as  in  the  American  aborigines  generally,  its  index  being  40.6, 
while  in  these  it  is  40.9.  The  breadth  across  the  malar  bones, 

together  with  the  roof- 
shaped  top,  give  to  the 
whole,  when  viewed  in 
front,  a  somewhat  py 
ramidal  form  compared 
with  that  of  the  other 
barbarous  tribes  gener 
ally.  The  size  of  the 
cranium  is  large,  its 
length  being  510  milli 
metres,  and  its  capacity 

1,435  centimetres,  or  88  cubic  inches;  while  theirs  is  only  1,376 
centimetres,  or  84  cubic  inches.  The  length  of  the  skull  being 
taken  as  100,  its  breadth  is  72.8,  and  it  is,  therefore,  decidedly 
elongated  or  dolichocephalic.  The  whole  is  massive  and  heavy, 
and,  at  the  hinder  part  especially,  quite  thick. 

"Though  somewhat  smaller,  this  skull,  as  will  be  seen  by  the 
following  table,  agrees  very  nearly  in  its  proportions  with  that  de 
scribed  by  Dr.  Davis  in  his  Thesaurus. 


Circum 
ference. 

Length. 

Breadth. 

Height. 

Length. 

Sao  Matheos     .... 

in.  ni. 
510 

III.]!]. 

187 

m.m. 
136 

m.m. 
138 

m.m. 
380 

Davis's  collection  .     .     . 

525 

190.5 

139.5 

144.5 

401 

Blumenbach's  collection 

165 

139.5 

"  When  compared  with  Blumenbach's  specimen  there  is  a  wide 
difference.     The  one  figured  by  him  in  his   Decades  Craniorum, 


ON   THE   BOTOCUDOS.  587 

Plate  LVIIL,  was  brought  from  Brazil  by  the  Prince  Wied  Neu- 
wied,  and  is  also  figured  in  Morton's  Crania  Americana,  Plate  XV. 
In  the  first  case  the  view  is  oblique,  and  in  the  second  exactly  in 
profile,  this  view  being  taken  from  a  drawing  furnished  by  the 
Prince. 

"  In  its  thickness  and  massiveness  it  agrees  with  that  of  Sao 
Matheos.  As  far  as  one  can  judge  from  the  figures  of  Blumen- 
bach  and  Morton,  the  one  described  by  them  is  short  and  high, 
and,  according  to  Blumenbach's  description,  remarkable  for  its  bru 
tality,  or,  to  use  his  own  words,  '  If  you  disregard  for  a  moment 
the  under  jaw  and  interval  of  the  orbits,  the  projecting  nasal 
spine,  and  the  other  particulars  peculiar  to  man,  the  general  aspect 
approaches  nearer  to  that  of  the  orang-outang  than  that  of  any 
other  skull  from  a  barbarous  nation  to  be  seen  in  my  collection.' 
His  figure  seems  to  justify  his  words,  and  represents  the  jaws  more 
projecting  and  simious  than  does  that  of  Dr.  Morton. 

"  Of  the  original  shape  of  the  jaw  of  the  cranium  of  Sao  Ma 
theos  it  is  now  hardly  possible  to  form  a  correct  idea,  since  it  is 
somewhat  broken.  '  The  teeth  are  gone,  and  the  alveoli  partly 
absorbed.  There  is  nothing,  however,  in  what  remains  to  in 
dicate  great  size  or  forward  projection.  The  whole  cranium  will 
compare  favorably  with  the  crania  of  other  barbarous  tribes  of 
America.  Certainly  there  is  nothing  indicative  of  extreme  degra 
dation." 

In  a  letter  accompanying  the  above  notes  Professor  Wyman 
says  :  "  It  is  quite  curious  to  see  what  an  entirely  different  look 
ing  thing  the  skull  of  Sao  Matheos  is  when  compared  with  the 
famous  one  described  and  figured  by  Blumenbach,  and  which  has 
hitherto  given  the  key-note  to  all  that  has  been  written  about  the 
skulls  of  Botocudos.  If  there  were  only  your  Sao  Matheos  skull 
and  his,  and  they  had  fallen  into  different  hands  for  description, 
one  would  have  given  us  the  connecting  link  of  man  with  the  apes, 
while  the  other  would  have  given  us  a  highly  respectable  American 
savage." 


588  APPENDIX. 

The  skull  described  by  Blumcnbach*  is  figured  as  a  vignette  to 
the  second  volume  of  Prince  Max.  zu  Neuwied's  Reise  nach  Bra- 
silien.  It  seems  to  me  to  be  most  extraordinarily  short  and  small 
compared  with  the  size  of  the  jaw.  Among  all  the  Botocudos  I 
saw  in  Brazil  there  was  not  one  with  so  ape-like  a  head  and  such 
projecting  jaws. 

Von  Tschudif  figures  the  skull  of  a  Botocudo  chief,  named  Poro- 
kum,  from  the  Mucury.  He  gives  a  front  but  somewhat  oblique 
view  of  it,  which,  however,  shows  that  it  agrees  with  my  specimen 
in  the  perpendicularity  of  the  sides  and  in  the  roof-shaped  top. 

The  color  of  the  Botocudo  is  a  light  yellowish-brown,  like  that 
of  a  very  white  mulatto,  or  perhaps  more  correctly  speaking  that 
of  a  white  man  somewhat  tanned,  not  burned,  by  exposure  to 
the  sun.  Neuwied  says  that  they  are  of  a  reddish-brown  color, 
Von  Tschudi  a  dirty,  nearly  bronzed  brown.  $  The  color  varies 
much.  I  should  say  that  the  bodies  of  the  Botocudos  I  have  seen 
were,  on  the  average,  much  lighter  in  color  than  those  of  the  white 
canoe-men  of  the  Jequitinhonha,  accustomed  to  work  almost  naked 
in  the  sun,  and  that  as  a  race  they  were  much  whiter  than  the 
Tupi  descendants  along  the  coast,  who  differ  most  markedly  in 
their  whole  physiognomy,  stature,  &c.,  from  their  uncivilized 
neighbors. 

D'Orbigny  has  called  attention  to  the  yellowish  skin-tint  of  the 
Brasilio-Guaram  races.  It  is  interesting  to  observe  that  the  Boto- 

*  Prince  Neuwied  quotes  at  the  end  of  the  chapter  on  Botoctidos,  Vol.  II. 
p.  70,  a  few  words  from  Bluraenbach  relative  to  this  skull.  Blumenbach  says : 
"  Der  Botocude  womit  Ew.  meine  ethnologische  Sammlung  bereichert  haben, 
und  der  ebcn  so  sehr  zu  den  merkwiirdigsten  als  zu  den  seltensten  Stiicken  der- 
selben  gehort,  ahnelt  in  seiner  Totalform  (doch  ohne  den  Unterkiefer)  dem  vom 
Ourangutang  mchr,  als  einem  der  acht  Negerschadel  die  ich  besitze,  wcnn  gleich 
bey  manchen  von  diesen  die  Oberkiefer  starker  als  an  dem  brasilianischen 
Cannibalen  prominircn." 

t  Reisen  durch  Siid-Amerika,  Zweiter  Band,  328''  Seite. 

J  M.  Serres  describes  the  color  of  the  Botocudos  he  examined  as  "  brun  rou- 
geatre,  un  pcu  plus  rosee  que  celle  des  loways." 


ON   THE   BOTOCUDOS.  589 

cudos,  a  nation  fitted  for  a  life  in  damp  shady  forests,  and  unable 
to  bear  the  sun  in  the  open  campos  of  the  interior,  are  of  a  very 
pale  color,  and  very  much  less  dark  than  those  races  which  live  on 
the  plains  or  on  open  grounds.  Southey*  thought  that  their  pale 
color  was  the  result  of  their  life  in  the  shady  forests,  and  D'Or- 
bignyt  held  the  same  belief,  stating  in  confirmation  of  it  that, 
while  the  Guaranis  of  the  plains  of  Corrientes  and  the  Gran  Chaco 
are  dark  colored,  the  Guarayos  and  Sirionos,  though  belonging  to 
the  same  race  of  the  Guaranis,  who  for  about  four  hundred  years 
have  lived  in  the  damp  and  shady  forests,  are  very  light  colored. 

Gumilla  says,  that  the  people  living  in  the  forests  of  the  Orinoco 
are  almost  white,  while  those  of  the  plains  are  dark.  $  I  am  told 
that  the  Botocudos  are  capable  of  blushing.  I  never  detected  any 
thing  of  the  sort,  and  I  doubt  whether  it  is  possible  in  any  except 
those  considerably  civilized. 

Among  the  Indians  I  saw  on  the  coast  only  one  young  woman 
had  her  cheeks  painted,  though  the  custom  seems,  at  least  for 
merly,  to  have  been  quite  common  with  the  Indians  in  the  forest 
not  only  to  paint  the  face  but  the  body.  This  young  woman  had 
a  bright  red  spot  on  each  cheek,  painted  with  a  tint  prepared  from 
the  seeds  of  the  Urucu  (Bixa  Orellana  Linn.),  a  fruit  common  in 
the  Brazilian  forests,  and  from  which  anatto,  or  cheese-coloring,  is 
prepared.  This  same  color  is  also  used  by  other  tribes  in  Brazil 
to  paint  their  bodies.  A  deep  blue-black  of  greater  durability 
is  extracted  from  the  fruit  of  the  Genipapo  (Genipa),  and  is  also 
used  for  ornamenting  the  body.  §  The  style  of  ornamentation  ap 
pears  not  to  be  fixed,  but  to  vary  according  to  the  caprice  of  the 
individual.  Neuwied  describes  three  principal  styles.  In  one 
the  face  from  the  mouth  upwards  is  painted  red  with  urucu.  In 

*  History  of  Brazil,  Chap.  XIII. 

t  L'Homme  Americain,  Tome  I.  p.  79. 

t  Hist,  de  VOrtnoque,  Trad.,  Avignon,  1752.  Tome  I.  p.  108.  Cited  by 
D'Orbigny.  See  Humboldt,  Travels,  Bonn's  edition,  Vol.  II.  p.  463. 

§  Henderson,  in  his  usually  inaccurate  style,  says  that  the  Botocudos  paint 
themselves  green  or  yellow. 


590  APPENDIX. 

another  the  body,  upper  arms,  and  thighs  to  just  below  the 
knees  are  stained  black,  the  colored  portion  being  separated  from 
the  unpainted  by  a  red  stripe.  Sometimes  one  half  the  body  was 
painted  black,  the  rest  being  left  uncolored.  Occasionally  a  black 
line  like  a  mustache  was  drawn  across  the  upper  lip,  and  ex 
tended  to  the  ears,  the  rest  of  the  face  being  red,  and  Neuwied 
says  that  sometimes  the  sides  of  the  body  are  blackened  from  the 
shoulders  to  the  feet,  the  middle  of  the  body  being  without  color. 
The  colors  are  usually  prepared  in  the  upper  shell  of  a  turtle,  and 
are  carried  in  a  joint  of  bamboo. 

As  Von  Tschudi  has  well  remarked,  a  naked  Botocudo  warrior, 
with  his  black  painted  body,  red  face,  and  lip  and  ear  ornaments, 
must  present  a  most  demoniacal  appearance.  In  the  forest  the 
Botocudos  go  naked.  Not  a  single  Indian  I  saw  wore  any  orna 
ment  on  the  head  or  body,  unless  it  were  a  simple  string  of  beads. 
When  at  work  on  the  fazendas  they  go  as  nearly  naked  as  possible ; 
the  men  often  tie  a  shirt  by  the  arms  around  the  waist,  letting  the 
body  hang  down  in  front;  the  women  wear  only  a  tattered  skirt. 
These  garments  are  immediately  discarded  as  soon  as  they  return 
to  the  forest,  and  one  may  see  little  bands  entirely  naked  in  the 
vicinity  of  Philadelphia  and  other  settlements  in  the  Botocudo 
region.  Like  other  savage  nations,  the  Botocudo  shows  no  symp 
tom  of  shame  on  exposing  the  person  in  the  presence  of  those  who 
are  dressed. 

The  ornaments  of  the  wild  Indian  woman  consist  of  a  band 
sometimes  worn  about  the  head,  from  which  on  one  side  depend 
a  number  of  long  strings  to  the  ends  of  which  are  attached  hoofs 
of  capibaras  ;  of  collars  made  of  hard  berry-like  fruits  strung  on 
threads,  together  with  the  teeth  of  monkeys,  &c.,  or  of  strings  of 
the  hoofs  of  wild  pigs ;  and  of  armlets  of  beads  and  teeth.  The 
chiefs  sometimes  ornament  themselves  with  feathers,  but  this  is 
rare. 

I  never  saw  a  savage  Indian  woman  wearing  a  flower,  though 
the  civilized  Indians  are  very  fond  of  them,  as  Mrs.  Agassiz  tells  us 
in  the  "Journey  in  Brazil." 


ON   THE   BOTOCUDOS.  591 

The  arms  of  the  Botocudo  consist  of  the  bow  and  arrow  ;  clubs 
are  rarely  used.  The  bow  in  ordinary  use  is  about  five  feet  in 
length,  and  is  made  from  the  wood  of  the  Airi-palm.  This  wood 
is  exceedingly  hard,  heavy  and  strong,  and  of  a  very  dark  reddish- 
brown  color.  The  bow  is  thickest  in  the  middle,  where  it. is  round, 
and  it  tapers  regularly  to  each  end.  So  difficult  are  these  bows 
to  bend,  tha-t  no  one  but  an  Indian  can  use  them.  Mr.  Copeland 
brought  one  from  the  Guandu  with  him,  which  not  even  our 
strong  canoe-men  could  bend.*  These  bows  vary  somewhat  in 
size,  some  being  even  seven  feet  in  length. 

The  arrows  are  usually  about  six  feet  in  length,  and  are  made 
of  the  Ubd,  Cannachuba,  &c.,  which  furnish  light  and  strong  reed- 
like  stems. 

The  arrow  used  in  war  is  tipped  with  a  javelin-like  head,  five  or 
six  inches  long,  and  sometimes  two  inches  broad,  which  is  made  of 
a  piece  from  the  side  of  a  joint  of  Bamboo,  and  is  conseqiiently 
convex  on  one  side  and  concave  on  the  other.  This  is  cut  into  a 
sort  of  elliptical  shape,  and  sharpened  to  a  long  acute  point.  It 
is  then  hardened  in  fire,  and  the  arrow-head  is  prepared  with 
an  edge  as  sharp  as  a  knife.  The  head  is  Abound  into  the  arrow- 
shaft  with  bark.  This  arrow,  which  is  employed  not  only  in  war, 
but  in  the  chase  of  the  Tapir,  is,  like  the  other  kinds  in  use  among 
these  Indians,  tipped  with  the  feathers  of  some  large  bird,  a  single 
feather  being  bound  on  each  side.  It  makes  a  terrible  wound,  and 
one  particularly  dangerous,  because  of  the  concave  shape  of  the 
arrow,  which  facilitates  bleeding. 

Another  arrow  in  use  sometimes  in  war,  but  usually  in  the 
chase,  is  furnished  with  a  thin,  narrow  head,  about  a  foot  long,  with 
backward  projecting  points  cut  on  one  side,  — a  terrible  weapon. 

For  birds  and  small  game  an  arrow  is  used  whose  tip  is  made 

*  Speaking  of  the  strength  of  the  Indians  of  the  vicinity  of  Rio,  and  of  the 
stiffness  of  their  bows,  Lery  says,  Cap.  XIII.  :  "  Si  longitudine  et  crassitu- 
dine  nostros  adeo  superant,  ut  cos  nee  lentare  nee  adducere  ullus  nostrum 
possit ;  quin  potius  immo  totis  viribus  puerorum  decem  annorum  arcubus  cur- 
vandis  opus  esse." 


592  APPENDIX. 

from  a  stem  cut  at  the  node  where  several  little  branches  have 
their  origin  in  a  circle  ;  the  stem  is  fashioned  into  a  blunt  point  just 
above  the  node  and  the  branches  are  cut  off  short.  An  arrow  of 
this  kind,  of  course,  does  not  tear  but  only  bruises.  I  once  en 
countered  several  Indians  near  Urucu  returning  to  their  camp 
from  hunting  small  lizards  with  these  blunt  arrows.  Guns  are 
not  much  in  use  among  these  savages,  though  they  soon  learn  to 
use  them  very  expertly.* 

The  Botocudos  use  a  sort  of  speaking-trumpet  made  of  the  skin 
of  the  tail  of  the  great  armadillo  (Dasypus  gigas)  to  call  one 
another  in  the  forest. 

Before  the  discovery  of  America  the  Indians  of  Brazil,  both 
Tupi  and  Botocud'o,  used  cutting  instruments  of  stone  of  various 
shapes,  and  at  Linhares  on  the  Rio  Doce  the  subdelegado  pre 
sented  me  with  a  stone  instrument,  probably  of  Tupi  origin,  of 
the  shape  of  a  saddler's  cutting-knife.  It  was  made  from  a  very 
hard  gray  stone.  I  unfortunately  lost  the  specimen,  so  that  I 
am  unable  to  figure  it.  I  have  never  seen  any  of  the  stone  imple 
ments  of  the  Botocudos.  Their  principal  cutting  instrument,  be 
sides  their  bamboo  razors,  consists  of  a  common  stout  knife,  like 
a  butcher-knife,  though  they  make  knives  from  hoop-iron,  or  any 
thing  else  that  will  serve  the  purpose.  This  knife  they  always 
carry  slung  over  the  back  by  a  cord  around  the  neck. 

The  nation  of  the  Botocudos  is  divided  into  a  number  of  little 
tribus,  as  they  are  called,  or  collections  of  a  larger  or  smaller 
number  of  families,  each  tribe  inhabiting  a  certain  region  in 
which  they  have  their  Aldeamento  or  head-quarters.  Each  one  of 
these  tribes  is  governed  by  a  chief  usually  selected  for  his  strength 
and  bravery,  and  the  tribe  frequently  takes  its  name  from  the 
leader.  Thus  a  tribe  in  the  Mucury  region,  headed  by  a  chief  of 
Herculean  strength  named  Pojichd^  goes  by  his  name.  Henrique 

*  Von  Tschudi  says  that  the  Indians  not  only  shoot  more  successfully,  but 
to  a  greater  distance  with  their  arrows,  than  the  European  can  with  his  gun. 

t  A  son  of  Pojicha  was  a  servant  in  the  house  of  Signor  Gazinelli,  in  Santae 
Clara. 


ON   THE   BOTOCUDOS.  593 

Gerber  *  says  that  "  they  divide  themselves  into  several  tribes, 
of  which  some  are  domesticated  and  gathered  together  into  vil 
lages  ;  others,  still  wild,  wander  through  the  forests  of  the  valleys 
of  the  Mucury,  Doce,  Tambacury,  Urupuca,  &c.  All  of  them,  how 
ever,  distinguish  themselves  disadvantageously  from  the  Macha- 
lalis  and  Malalis  by  the  inferior  degree  of  their  intellectual  facul 
ties.  The  principal  domesticated  tribes  are  :  — 

a.  The  Naknenuks  (dwellers  in  the  Serra),  a  confederation  of 
various   tribes,  who   occupy  the  valleys  of  the  upper  Todos  os 
Santos,    Pote,   and  Mucury,  in  the  Aldeamentos  of  the   Capitao 
Felippe,  in  the  forest  of  Sao  Joao,  of  the  Captain  Pote,  on  the 
margin  of  the  brook  Pote,  of  the  Captain  Timotheo,  on  the  head 
waters  of  the  Todos  os  Santos,  <fec. 

b.  The  tribes  of  Pojicha,  encamped  three  leagues  below  Phila 
delphia. 

c.  The  tribes  of  Giporok,  on  the  margins  of  the  Urucu   and 
Lower  Mucury. 

d.  The  Bakues,  on  the  left  margin  of  the  Mucury. 

e.  The  Aranaus  on  the  margins  of  the  Surubim  and  Sassuhy. 
Von  Tschudi  f  has  given  the  distribution  of  the  tribes  with  so 

much  detail  and  apparent  precision  that  I  quote  what  he  has  to 
say  on  the  subject  :  — 

"  The  nation  of  the  Botocudos  is  broken  up  into  a  multitude  of 
tribes,  of  which  the  most  divide  themselves  again  into  independent 
hordes.  On  the  head-waters  of  the  Mucury  and  Todos  os  Santos 
live  the  Naknenuks.  From  my  researches  into  the  meaning  of 
this  word  two  entirely  opposite  explanations  have  presented  them 
selves  to  me.  According  to  one  version,  the  name  should  mean 
'  Lords  of  the  land,'  according  to  the  other,  '  Not  from  this  land.' 
I  am  not  in  the  position  to  determine  which  translation  is  the  more 
correct.  |  To  the  Naknenuks  must  be  reckoned  as  belonging  the 

*  Noqoes  Geograficas,  &c.,  pp.  24,  25. 

t  Reisen  dureh  Siid-Amerika,  Vol.  II.  p.  264. 

t  See  Gerber,  quoted  above.   Von  Martius  translates  the  name  "  homines  terrce." 

LL 


594  APPENDIX. 

Americanos  d'Agoa  Branca  on  the  Rio  Preto,  belonging  to  the 
basin  of  the  Jequitinhonha,  where  they  possess  a  considerable 
aldea. 

"  The  Naknenuks  of  the  Mucury  consist  of  the  following  known 
hordes,  which  are  called  after  their  chiefs :  The  horde  of  Pole, 
probably  the  strongest  of  all,  only  two  leagues  distant  from  Phila 
delphia,  that  of  Cracatan,  Braz,  Poton,  Timotheo,  Inhome,  Felipe, 
Ninkate,  and  Nortete.  The  last,  which  formerly  numbered  over  a 
hundred  '  bows '  fit  for  war,  has  lately  melted  away  to  only  a  few 
families 

"  South  of  the  Serra  Mapmap-crak,  which  separates  the  basin, 
live  the  Aranatis,  the  bitterest  enemies  of  the  Naknenuks,  on  the 
Rio  Aranau.  From  the  northern  tributary  of  the  Mucury,  the  Rio 
Panpan  [Pampam  or  Pampao]  to  Santa  Clara  stretch  the  Bakues, 
and  west  from  these  to  near  the  shore  the  tribe  of  Urufu.  On 
the  source  of  the  Rio  Preto  are  the  bands  of  Joao  Ima,  Casimiro, 
Maciel,  and  other  subordinate  chiefs,  Jumerai,  Capord,  Ampaquejti. 
In  the  southern  basin  of  the  Mucury  we  meet  at  the  Rtbeirao  de 
Saudade  with  the  tribe  of  the  redoutable  Captain  Poschischd*  some 
what  farther  east  of  the  Riberao  das  Lages,  the  tribus  of  Mekmek, 
Shiporok,  and  Potik,  and  still  eastward  toward  the  coast,  in  the 
basin  of  the  Sao  Matheos,  the  hordes  of  Pokorun,  Batata,  and 
others.  On  the  Rio  Urucu,  or  the  largest  southern  affluent  of  the 
Mucury,  the  Shiporoks  and  the  chiefs  Juquirana  and  Maron. 

"  On  the  subject  of  the  name  '  Shiporok'  I  have  no  more  light 
than  on  that  of  Naknenuk.  According  to  some,  Shiporok  means 
enemy,  and  with  this  name  the  Indians  commonly  designate  their 
adversaries.  The  tribe,  however,  does  not  name  itself  so.  By 
what  name  it  designates  itself  I  could  not  learn.  An  Indian  sol 
dier,  and  one  excellently  acquainted  with  the  language  of  this 
race,  and  of  whom  I  made  numerous  inquiries  concerning  it, 

*  Von  Tschudi,  like  a  German,  has  mistaken  a  sound  very  near  the  French 
j  for  an  sh.  Shiporok  is  pronounced  zhlpffrff'k,  the  sound  zh  representing  a 
sound  somewhat  intermediate  between  the  Frencli  j  and  the  Spanish  ch. 


ON  THE   BOTOCUDOS.  595 

assured  me  that  Shiporok  meant  '•from  this  side  of  the  mountain? 
or  'from  behind  the  mountain,1  and  that  this  was  the  only  name  of 
the  race.  In  the  language  of  the  Botocudos,  Shiporak  means 
brother,  and  Shiporok,  arm.  In  the  year  1816  Prince  Max.  zu 
Neuwied  met  with  a  brave  Botocudo  chief,  called  Jeparak,  at  the 
Quartel  dos  Arcos  on  the  river  Belmonte.  It  is  not  unlikely  that 
his  baud  went  later  southward,  and  settled  in  the  basin  of  the  Mu- 
cury.  About  thirty  years  later  the  Shiporoks  were  at  the  Lagoa 
d'Arara,  on  the  north  bank  of  the  Mucury,  and  about  eight  years 
after  we  find  them  on  the  Rio  Urucu,  a  southern  tributary  of  this 
stream.  By  the  indistinct,  often  suppressed  sounds  of  the  vowels 
in  many  words  of  the  language  of  the  Botocudos,  I  believe  that 
the  mode  of  writing  the  word  on  the  part  of  Prince  Maximilian 
is  no  hindrance  to  the  opinion  that  the  Indian  race  of  the  Jepa- 
raks  which  he  met  with  at  Belmonte  are  identical  with  the  Shi 
poroks  at  Urucu. 

"  All  the  Indian  bands  on  the  basin  of  the  Mucury,  with  the 
exception  of  the  Malalis,  Machacalis,  and  perhaps  the  Aranaus, 
belong  to  the  race  of  the  Botocudos  or  Engerakmung,  as  they  call 
themselves.  Some  bands  have  settled  down  in  permanent  dwell 
ing-places,  Aldeamentos  or  Aldeas,  and  we  have  especially  to 
notice  the  Aldeamento  do  Poton,  the  Aldo.  do  Pote,  Aldo.  do  Cra- 
catan,  Aldo.  de  Curien9a  (das  Cursiumas),  Aldo.  do  Nortete,  Aldo. 
de  Sao  Joao,  Aldo.  d'Agoa  Boa,  Aldo.  dos  Aranaus.  In  the  year 
1817,  out  of  these  eight  Aldeamentos  one  hundred  and  four  indi 
viduals  were  converted  to  Christianity  (of  course  only  in  name)  ; 
among  them  the  three  chiefs,  Pote,  Poton,  and  Cracatan.  By 
the  inhabitants  of  some  of  these  villages  some  cxiltivation  of  the 
ground  is  earned  on,  but  it  is  confined  chiefly  to  the  cultivation  of 
maize  and  mandioca.  The  number  of  individuals  in  these  bands 
varies  much.  Some  count  several  hundreds,  others  scarcely  eighty 
to  a  hundred,  with  only  about  twenty  efficient  fighting  men. 
From  the  number  of  the  bow-bearing  warriors  one  can  with  surety 
estimate  the  number  of  souls  -in  a  band,  because  this  last,  on  the 


596  APPENDIX. 

average,  amounts  to  four  times  the  number  of  warriors.  I  believe 
that  I  am  not  far  from  the  truth  when  I  estimate  the  total  num 
ber  of  Indians  in  the  basin  of  the  Mucury  at  from  twenty-eight 
hundred  to  three  thousand  souls. 

The  Botocudos,  when  travelling  in  the  forest,  build  for  them 
selves  shelters  of  palm-leaves,  which  they  stick  in  the  ground  in 
a  half-circle,  the  tips  of  the  fronds  arching  together  forming  a 
sort  of  roof.  In  travelling  through  the  forest  between  the  Mucury 
and  Peruhype,  I  saw  great  numbers  of  deserted  ranches  of  this 
kind  in  the  forest. 

Where  they  encamp  long  in  one  place  they  make  their  ranch 
more  substantial  with  a  better  roof,  and  often  of  sufficient  size 
to  hold  several  families.  The  whole  furnishing  of  the  cabin  of 
a  Botocudo  is  of  the  simplest  possible  kind.  The  fire  is  made 
in  the  middle.  Rarely  ever  are  earthen  pots  used  for  cooking. 
They  make  use  of  gourds  and  the  cup-like  receptacle  of  the 
Sapucaia  (Lecythis)  for  drinking  purposes  and  for  the  preparation 
of  their  food.  Water  they  carry  in  the  joints  of  the  Taquara-assu, 
in  which  they  also  keep  their  painting  -materials.  Beds  are  made 
of  estopa  or  bast-fibre. 

The  food  of  the  Botocudos  consists  of  sapucaia  nuts,  palmito 
buds,  and  the  fruits  of  the  Inga,  Jaboticaba,  Ara9a  or  Goyaba, 
Maracuja  (passion-flower),  &c.,  with  the  roots  of  Cipos  and  other 
plants.  They  are  fond  of  Indian  corn,  bananas,  and  mandioca, 
which  they  steal  whenever  they  can  from  the  plantations. 

They  hunt  game  of  all  kinds,  but  they  are  particularly  fond  of 
monkeys,  whose  flesh,  as  I  can  myself  testify,  is  exceedingly  savory. 
They  even  eat  the  onga  and  other  carnivores,  the  ant-eater,  alli 
gators  and  lizards,  and  the  boa-constrictor. 

Among  birds  they  are  particularly  fond  of  the  Mutum,  the 
Jacupemba,  &c.,  and  they  also  eat  their  eggs.  Fish  are  usually 
shot  with  small  bows,  which  are  used  with  great  dexterity.  Some 
times  they  employ  a  poisonous  root,  which,  put  into  the  water 
of  a  pool,  kills  the  fish. 


ON   THE   BOTOCUDOS.  597 

They  are  very  fond  of  the  great,  fat  larvse  of  certain  insects 
which  burrow  in  decaying  wood.  Among  these,  according  to  Neu- 
wied,  is  the  larva  of  the  Prionus  cervicornis,  which,  with  other 
species,  live  in  the  trunks  of  the  Bombax,  or  Barrigudo.  Numbers 
of  these  disgusting  grubs  are  impaled  on  a  sharp  stick  and  toasted 
at  the  fire. 

Usually  all  animal  food  is  cooked  in  this  way.  Bananas,  pota 
toes,  &c.,  they  sometimes  bake  in  the  hot  ashes.  Ants  also  are 
eaten. 

They  are  fond  of  honey,  and  formerly  they  used  to  cut  down 
hollow  trees  with  stone  axes  to  obtain  it.  To-day  steel  axes  and 
hatchets  are  occasionally  to  be  seen  among  the  Indians. 

Fire  is  to  the  Botocudo  an  object  of  much  care,  because  if  it  is 
lost  it  is  only  to  be  rekindled  with  great  difficulty.  In  order  to 
obtain  it  the  Indian  procures  a  stick  of  some  light,  dry  wood,  and 
makes  a  small  hollow  in  it.  This  stick  he  places  on  the  ground  and 
holds  securely  with  his  foot.  He  then  takes  a  long  dry  stick,  one 
end  of  which  is  somewhat  blunted,  and  places  it  in  the  hollow 
above  mentioned.  The  other  end  is  taken  between  the  two  palms, 
the  stick  is  held  vertically,  and  by  a  rapid  motion  of  the  hands 
it  is  caused  to  twirl  until  the  friction  of  the  lower  end  in  the 
hollow  of  the  other  stick  has  caused  it  to  take  fire,  when  estopa 
or  bast  is  ignited,  and  a  fire  is  speedily  made.  This  method  of 
procuring  fire  is  also  employed  by  some  of  the  aborigines  of  North 
America.  We  find  the  same  custom  in  Africa  among  the  Bush 
men  and  Caffres,*  and  in  the  Aleutian  and  Caroline  Islands. 

The  only  things  manufactured  by  the  Botocudos  consist  of  bows 
and  arrows,  a  few  little  ornaments,  and  bags  made  of  the  bast-fibre 
of  different  plants.  These  last  they  barter  with  the  whites  for 
food,  &c.  They  bring  in  to  the  fazendas  the  wax  of  wild  bees, 
ipecacuanha,  skins,  &c.,  but  this  barter  is  conducted  only  on  the 
very  smallest  scale. 

*  Alberti,  Descrip.  Phys.  et  Hist,  des  Caffres,  p.  36.  Campbell,  Reise  in  Sud- 
Afrika,  p.  37. 


598  APPENDIX. 

The  Botocudos  take  usually  but  one  wife.  Von  Tschudi  says 
that  when  a  man  has  chosen  a  woman  for  his  wife,  he  agrees  with 
the  father  as  to  a  certain  tribute  which  he  shall  pay  in  game  or 
something  else,  when  the  woman  is  handed  over  to  him  and 
with  no  further  ceremony  is  thereafter  his  wife. 

Neuwied  says  that  a  man  may  have  as  many  wives  as  he  can 
take  care  of.  Adultery  is  rare,  and  is  visited  with  heavy  punish 
ment  on  the  woman.  The  husbands  are  very  cruel  and  unkind 
to  their  wives.  The  husband,  when  angry  with  his  spouse,  beats 
her  unmercifully,  and  cuts  her  with  his  knife.  I  never  saw  a  mar 
ried  woman  who  was  not  covered  with  scars,  on  her  face,  back, 
breast,  and  arms ;  it  is  the  commonest  thing  to  see  them  six 
inches  or  more  in  length,  and  one  woman  may  bear  the  marks  of 
many  terrible  wounds,  which  it  seems  marvellous  she  should  have 
survived. 

The  good  health  of  savages,  and  the  facility  with  which  they 
recover  from  injuries  which  would  have  proved  fatal  to  an  ordinary 
civilized  man,  have  been  often  commented  upon  by  many  authors. 
Numerous  instances  are  on  record  of  Negroes,  Malays,  Pacific 
Islanders,  and  American  Indians  who  have  survived  horrible 
wounds  and  mutilations,  showing  that  Nature's  power  of  healing  is 
greater  among  savage  than  among  civilized  nations.* 

The  woman  is  really  the  slave  of  the  tmsband,  and  all  hard  work 
falls  to  her  lot.  On  the  march  she  carries  the  family  goods,  or  the 
larger  share,  packed  in  a  bag,  which  is  slung  on  the  back  by  a  band 
which  passes  over  the  forehead.  The  mother  carries  her  child 
on  her  back  sitting  in  a  loop  of  bark  which  passes  over  her 
forehead,  the  child  clasping  her  neck. 

The  children  are  kindly  treated,  at  least  when  young,  but  the 
tie  between  parent  and  child  is  not  strong,  f  At  Sao  Matheos 

*  Waltz,  Introduction  to  Anthropology,  p.  126. 

t  The  women  carry  their  children  on  their  backs  sitting  in  a  loop  of  bark 
which  passes  over  the  mother's  forehead,  the  child  clasping  the  mother  about 
the  neck. 


ON  THE   BOTOCUDOS.  599 

there  was  on  the  fazenda  a  young  woman  who  had  two  children ; 
one,  a  boy  several  years  old,  was  sick  from  dirt-eating,  and  was 
stunted  in  growth,  yellow,  and  swollen ;  the  other  was  a  babe  at 
the  breast.  The  mother  was  anxious  to  sell  the  elder,  and  I  could 
have  bought  him  for  a  trifle.  One  day  the  babe  suddenly  died. 
The  mother  immediately  dug  a  grave  for  it  in  the  floor  of  the 
rancho,  and  went  pleasantly  about  her  work  as  usual,  the  only 
effect  on  her  being  to  make  her  determine  not  to  sell  the  boy. 
Children  are  frequently  bartered  away  to  the  fazendeiros,  who  in 
reality  hold  them  as  slaves. 

Of  the  religious  ideas  of  the  Botocudos  we  have  not  so  much 
information  as  we  could  wish.  Most  writers  agree  with  Neuwied 
that  the  Botocudos  believe  in  and  fear  a  bad  spirit  called  Janchon, 
and  Neuwied  says  that  they  recognize  many  of  them,  which  they 
distinguish  as  great  and  small.  The  great  devil  comes  in  the 
guise  of  a  black  man  visiting  the  camps ;  sometimes  he  sleeps 
awhile  by  the  fire  and  then  goes  away,  but  all  who  see  him  die. 
This  same  devil  is  accused  of  beating  the  dogs  to  death  with  sticks, 
and  of  killing  children. 

The  Tupi  race  seems  to  have  some  idea  of  a  God,  and  they 
called  Him  Tupa  or  Tupan,  which  name  is  derived  from  the 
word  tuba,  father.  It  is  a  difficult  matter  to-day  to  arrive  at 
any  clear  knowledge  of  the  primitive  religious  belief  of  the 
Botocudos,  because  they  have  derived  so  many  ideas  through 
intercourse  with  the  Portuguese.  I  was  unable  to  learn  that 
the  Botocudos  had  any  idea  of  a  God.  The  moon,  which  they 
call  Tanru,  is  an  object  of  fear,  the  Indians  believing  that  occa 
sionally  it  falls  upon  the  earth,  destroying  men,  and  that  it 
sends  storm  and  famine.  No  worship  is  offered  to  any  of  these 
things,  and  they  have  neither  priests  nor  medicine-men  like  the 

TuPis  Bancroft  Libiwy 

The  dead  are  buried  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  camp, 

or  even  in  the  wigwam,  and  this  last  appears  to  be  usually  the 
case.  The  child  that  died  at  Sao  Matheos  was  buried  in  the 


600  APPENDIX. 

earth  forming  the  floor  of  the  ranch  in  which  the  Indians  were 
quartered.  When  a  death  occurs  they  usually  desert  the  camping- 
ground  for  another,  but  I  feel  sure  that  I  saw  the  Indians  occupying 
the  same  ranch  in  which  the  dead  child  was  buried.  The  relatives 
gather  together  and  howl  for  one  day  after  the  death,  the  women 
taking  a  specially  prominent  part  in  the  ceremony ;  but  the  next 
day  they  all  go  about  their  work  as  if  nothing  had  happened. 
In  some  places  the  hands  of  the  defunct  are  bound  together  before 
burial.  The  corpse  is  buried  in  a  horizontal  position,  and  a  fire  is 
lit  to  keep  away  the  devil,  for  they  believe  that  if  this  evil  spirit 
should  find  no  fire  at  a  grave  he  would  dig  out  the  body.  Deserted 
wigwams  in  the  vicinity  of  graves  are  a  common  sight  in  the  forest. 
Sometimes  a  shelter  of  palm-leaves  is  built  over  the  burial-place, 
as  Neuwied  has  remarked.  Nothing  is  put  in  the  grave  with 
the  dead  body.* 

The  different  tribes  or  Aldeamentos  are  frequently  at  war  with 
one  another.  At  the  time  of  my  visit  to  the  Mucury  there  was  a 
skirmish  between  two  bands  near  Cannas  Brabas  on  the  Phi^ 
delphia,  the  particulars  of  which  I  was  unable  to  learn.  I  had 
sent  my  baggage  on  ahead  of  me  to  Philadelphia  in  care  of 
Signor  Battista,  who  was  conducting  a  train  of  ox-carts  with 
salt,  &c.  Near  Cannas  Brabas  he  was  attacked  by  the  Botocudos 
and  shot  at,  but  escaped  by  plunging  into  the  forest,  from  which 
he  emerged  nearly  naked.  On  arriving  at  Cannas  Brabas  we 
found  the  place  nearly  deserted,  but  we  passed  the  place  of  danger 
in  the  night  without  seeing  an  Indian. 

Their  mode  of  warfare  is  the  attack  by  night  or  from  ambush. 
A  victory  is  celebrated  by  song  and  dance.  I  found  the  belief 
everywhere  current  that  they  sometimes  ate  the  bodies  of  the 
slain,  and  from  all  the  information  I  have  received,  I  think 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  cannibalism  is  one  of  the  customs 

*  The  fcitor  at  Capitilo  Grande  told  me  that  when  a  little  child  died  it  was  the 
custom  to  put  by  the  grave  a  bottle  of  milk  drawn  from  the  mother's  breast, 
together  with  the  bones  of  some  wild  animals. 


ON  THE   BOTOCUDOS.  601 

of  the  Botocudos.  At  present  the  Indians  are  very  peaceful,  but 
from  time  to  time  they  have  committed  outrages  on  the  -whites, 
murdering,  and  burning  houses  on  the  Mucury,  at  Sao  Matheos, 
and  on  the  Doce. 

When  at  the  Fazenda  do  Capitao  Grande  I  witnessed  one  even 
ing  the  dance  of  the  Botocudos.  A  bottle  of  cachaga,  or  native 
rum,  had  been  given  them,  over  which  they  were  very  merry. 
Four  of  them  took  their  position  naked  in  the  yard  in  front  of 
the  house,  and  formed  a  square,  facing  one  another,  then  all 
four  placed  their  left  feet  together,  the  right  leg  remaining 
stretched  out.  All  bowed  their  heads  together  and  placed  their 
arms  on  each  other's  shoulders.  Then  they  began  a  monotonous 
song,*  Caldul'-d-a,  Calani -a-ha ,  to  which  they  all  kept  time  by 
hitching  a  step  forward  with  the  right  foot,  keeping  the  left  quiet. 
This  dance  they  kept  up  for  some  time.  They  are  apparently 
very  fond  of  it,  and  the  overseer  of  the  fazenda  informed  me 
that  they  sometimes  kept  it  up  until,  exhausted  by  fatigue,  they 
fell  to  the  ground. 

These  Indians  used  to  be  very  numerous  at  Sao  Matheos,  living 
in  the  forests  even  quite  close  to  the  sea ;  but  they  have  been  so 
killed  off  that  at  present  none  are  found  in  the  vicinity  except  on 
the  head-waters  of  the  river.  They  were  hunted  down  by  the  Por 
tuguese  settlers  like  wild  beasts,  and  one  gentleman  told  me  at -, 

that  during  his  life  he  had.  either  with  his  own  hand  or  at  his 
command,  been  the  means  of  putting  to  death  by  knife  and  gun 
and  poison  over  a  thousand  of  these  poor  creatures  !  The  injuries 
committed  by  the  Botocudos  on  the  whites  are  as  nothing  com 
pared  with  the  wrongs  inflicted  upon  them  by  those  who  have 
dispossessed  them  of  their  home,  and  have  almost  destroyed  the 
race. 

The  Indians  have  learned  the  use  of  rum  and  tobacco,  of  both  of 
which  they  are  very  fond,  and  which  are  rapidly  working  their  ruin. 
In  the  Mucury,  Colonia  Leopoldina,  Sao  Matheos,  and  on  the  Doce, 

*  St.  Hilaire  compares  the  song  of  the  Botocudo  to  that  of  the  Chinese. 
VOL.    I.  26 


602  APPENDIX. 

the  Indians  come  into  the  settlements  to  beg,  and  they  not  un- 
frequently  are  employed  to  work  on  the  fazendas,  their  service 
being  voluntary.  At  Sao  Matheos  they  are  paid  in  victuals  and 
rum ;  but  on  the  Mucury  they  have  learned  the  use  of  money, 
which  they  call  pataca.  At  Sao  Matheos  I  saw  both  men  and 
women  at  work  with  the  negroes.  They  are  not  much  to  be  de 
pended  upon,  usually  remaining  but  a  few  days  on  the  fazeuda,  and 
then  returning  to  their  wild  life  in  the  forest.  They  are  very  lazy, 
and  half  a  dozen  are  scarcely  worth  an  able-bodied  negro.  They 
seemed  very  docile  and  good-natured  ;  indeed,  I  was  particularly 
struck  with  this  last  feature  in  their  character.  At  their  work  they 
laughed  and  played  jokes  on  one  another,  and  in  the  house  at  their 
meals  were  quite  as  merry  as  the  negroes.  They  have  nothing  of 
the  gravity,  stolidity,  and  want  of  curiosity  of  our  Northern  In 
dians.  They  have  no  idea  of  meum  et  tuum,  and  they  are  particu 
larly  addicted  to  stealing  bananas,  corn,  or  anything  else  they  hap 
pen  to  take  a  fancy  to.  They  often  come  almost  stark  naked  into 
Philadelphia  and  Urucu  to  beg. 

One  may  occasionally  find  a  civilized  Botocudo  on  a  fazenda, 
but  the  children  sold  by  the  parents  and  employed  as  servants  on 
.the  plantations  scarcely  ever  grow  up. 

At  present  the  Botocudos  are  confined  to  the  virgin  forest  be 
tween  the  Rio  Doce  and  the  Rio  Pardo.  They  are  very  rarely  seen 
near  the  coast,  and  never  frequent  the  campos  of  the  interior.  The 
race  is  fast  diminishing,  and  in  a  few  years  will  pass  out  of  exist 
ence.  The  Indians  of  the  coast  tribes  of  the  Tupi  race,  —  thanks  to 
the  labor  of  the  Jesuits,  —  have  become  civilized  and  converted  to 
Christianity,  and  now  form  an  integral  part  of  the  Brazilian  popu 
lation,  but  the  Botocudos  resist  civilization  and  the  influence  of 
Christianity,  and  are  sunk  in  the  lowest  barbarism. 

The  language  of  the  Botocudos  is  entirely  different  from  the 
Tupi,  and  from  that  of  the  other  coast  tribes,  as  the  Patachos, 
Machalalis,  &c.  Although  spoken  by  all  the  Botocudos,  there  are 
dialectic  differences  observable  in  each  band,  different  words 


ON   THE   BOTOCUDOS.  603 

being  sometimes  used  by  different  bands  to  distinguish  the  same 
object.  The  language  of  the  Naknenuks,  Jiporoks,  &c.  is  one 
and  the  same.  Latham's  division  of  the  Botocudo  into  the  Boto- 
cudo  proper  and  Naknenuk  is  incorrect,  and  the  differences  ob 
servable  between  his  vocabularies  are  traceable  to  the  collectors  of 
these  vocabularies,  who  have  spelled  the  words  incorrectly,  as  they 
caught  the  sound  from  the  lip  of  the  native. 

At  present  we  know  very  little  of  the  grammatical  structure  of 
the  language,  the  vocabulary  being  very  incomplete. 

It  is  a  very  simple  language,  with  very  few  or  no  inflexions. 
The  first  words  the  stranger  is  likely  to  hear  uttered  by  a  native  — 
namely,  gling-gling —  bear  one  of  the  most  distinguishing  features 
of  the  language.  It  is  extremely  rich  in  reduplicated  words. 
Thus  we  have  Ton-ton  =  bad ;  Kiacu-kack-kack  =  a  butterfly  ; 
Ong-ong  =  to  sing;  Naak-naak  =  a  gull;  Encarang-cuong-cuong- 
gipakiu  =  the  great  boa,  &c.,  &c. 

This  reduplication  appears  rarely  ever  to  extend  itself  to  words 
of  two  syllables.  Instead  of  doubling  a  word  of  two  syllables,  only 
the  last  syllable  is  reduplicated,  as  in  the  sentence,  min-yan-yan- 
rl-ma-kd-um  =  I  am  thirsty.  These  constantly  recurring  doubled 
syllables  give  to  the  language  a  stuttering  character.  The  Tupi- 
Guarani  is  also  rich  in  reduplicated  words,  but  not  so  much  so  as 
the  Botocudo. 

The  principal  points  in  the  structure  of  the  language  thus  far 
noted  by  Neuwied  and  others  are  these  :  — 

There  is  but  one  gender,  namely,  neuter.  There  are  two  num 
bers,  a  singular  and  a  plural,  and  perhaps  a  dual.  The  plural  is 
formed  by  adding  uruhti  or  ruM  (many)  to  the  singular,  thus : 
Kjiem  =  house  ;  Kjiem-iiruhu  =.  houses,  also  village  ;  Tyon  =  tree  ; 
Tyon-uruhu  =  trees  or  forest.  In  writing  my  vocabulary  at  Sao 
Matheos,  my  interpreter,  a  native  Botocudo  who  spoke  Portu 
guese  quite  well,  gave  me  what  appeared  to  be  a  dual  form  for 
several  words,  and  these  I  subjoin  exactly  as  I  noted  them  from 
his  lips. 


604  APPENDIX. 

Man  cuah-hah 

Two  men  'ni't-chS-vS 

Woman  p5-chl'k 

Two  women  cnit-cho-vo'-d"n 

Eye  ki-t<5'm 

Two  eyes  nlk-i-to'm-ch5-vo" 

Ear  n5n-ho'n 

Two  ears  iion-hon-cho'-vo" 

Arm  yl-mun 

Two  arms  yi-mun-chS-vS 

Hand  i'p-a' 

Two  hands  i'p-a'-cho'-vo' 

Leg  ip-mak 

Two  legs  i'p-mak-cho'-vo 

The  word  for  man  in  this  vocabulary  corresponds  with  that 
given  by  Neuwied,  but  in  no  vocabulary  can  I  find  the  word  po- 
chik,  meaning  woman.  The  dual  forms  of  both  are  strange,  yet 
my  Botocudo  insisted  that  'nl't-cho-vo  meant  dous  hometis,  and  'nit- 
cho-vo-Q'n,  duas  mulheres.  There  may  possibly  be  some  mistake 
here,  but  I  have  given  the  words  in  the  hope  that  some  one  else 
may  be  able  to  explain  them.  With  the  other  words  the  dual  was 
formed  by  adding  the  termination  -cho-vo,  but  in  the  case  of  Kitom 
a  prefix  nl  was  added. 

One  thing  is  certain,  the  Botocudos  cannot  count.  Their  only 
numeral  adjectives  being  mokenam,  which  means,  rather,  single,  and 
uruhu,  many.*  The  Botocudos  at  Capitao  Grande  kept  an  account 
of  their  days'  work  on  their  fingers  and  toes,  and  I  was  assured 
that  the  largest  number  they  could  reckon  was  twenty.  At  the 
expiration  of  ten  days'  work,  for  instance,  an  Indian  who  wished  to 
settle  with  the  feitor  would  go  to  him  and  count  off  templdn,  day, 
ten  times  on  the  fingers.  In  the  examples  above  given  there  is 

*  The  Tupis  count  only  to  three ;  for  higher  numbers  they  use  the  Portu 
guese. 


ON   THE   BOTOCUDOS.  605 

a  termination  which  signifies  two,  and  which  answers  to  a  dual. 
The  subject  is  one  of  much  interest,  and  I  regret  much  that  during 
my  stay  in  the  Mucury  I  was  unable  to  give  it  more  study.  Von 
Tschudi  gives  numerals  up  to  ten,  which  he  obtained  from  a  Nak- 
nenuk  through  the  aid  of  an  Indian  soldier ;  but  he  himself  ex 
presses  a  doubt  as  to  the  veracity  of  his  interpreter. 

There  are  in  the  Botocudo  language  two  cases,  a  nominative 
and  an  objective.  The  latter  is  marked  by  the  syllable  te  (ti  or 
de)  between  two  substantives  coming  together  and  governing  one 
another  (Gottling  quoted  by  Neuwied) ;  thus,  Taru  means  moon, 
but  also  sun,  sky,  and  time ;  Taru-ti-po,  literally,  sky-runner. 

The  adjective  always  follows  the  substantive,  as  cuidn-cudgi,  the 
small  ant-eater.  Neuwied  says  that  the  comparative  is  formed 
by  adding  the  termination  uruhu,  and  the  superlative  by  the  addi 
tion  of  the  adverb  gicaram,  as  cuang-mah,  the  stomach  is  empty, 
cuang-mah-gicaram.*  The  only  pronouns  we  know  are  KjicJc  =  I, 
and  Hd  =  he,  she,  or  it.  We  have  KjucTc  for  my,  which,  by  the 
way,  may  be  used  before  the  noun  it  qualifies,  as  Kjick-kjuck 
magndn-joop,  but  Neuwied  says  that  his  Botocudo  Quack  used 
Kjick  as  well  as  KjucJc.  So  far  as  the  verb  is  concerned  it  seems 
to  be  very  simple  in  its  construction,  and  to  have  only  two  forms ; 
namely,  infinitive  and  participle.  The  third  person  singular  pres 
ent  is  formed  by  prefixing  to  the  verb  he,  het,  or  simply  a,  which 
appear  to  be  only  different  forms  of  the  third  person  singular 
present  of  the  verb  to  be.  We  at  present  know  too  little  of  the 
language  to  speak  at  all  positively  about  other  points  in  its  con 
struction. 

Prince  Max.  zu  Neuwied  gives  in  the  second  volume  of  his 
Seise  a  German-Botocudo  vocabulary  of  several  hundred  words. 
Latham  (Elements  of  Comparative  Philology,  p.  509)  gives  four 
short  vocabularies,  and  Von  Tschudi  (Reisen  durch  Brasilien,  Vol. 
II.  p.  288)  has  another  short  vocabulary.  Other  vocabularies  have 

*  I  should  hardly  call  this  a  superlative. 


606  APFEXDIX. 

been  collated  by  Guido  Marliere,  Von  Eschwege,  Jomard,  Renault, 
Von  Martins,  St.  Hilaire,  D'Orbigny,  and  others.  Neuwied's  is 
prepared  with  great  care,  and  he  had  the  advantage  of  long  inter 
course  with  a  lad,  whom  he  retained  in  his  employ.  Von  Tschudi's 
was  hastily  written  with  the  aid  of  an  Indian  interpreter,  and  the 
sounds  are  very  imperfectly  represented,  a  soft  ch  or  zli  sound 
being  represented  by  the  German  sch,  &c.  I  do  not  know  where 
Latham's  vocabularies  were  collected.  They  are  very  inaccurate. 
While  at  Sao  Matheos  I  spent  a  long  time  with  a  young  Botocudo, 
who  spoke  Portuguese,  and  collected  quite  a  vocabulary,  using  a 
phonetic  alphabet  of  my  own,  by  which,  with  an  ear  accustomed 
to  the  pronunciation  of  many  languages,  I  think  I  have  been  able 
to  express  very  nearly  the  true  pronunciation  of  the  words.  The 
pronunciation  is  exceedingly  indistinct,  and  the  words  are  very 
hard  to  catch.  The  stupidity  of  my  pundit  was  discouraging,  and 
the  labor  of  getting  together  the  vocabulary  was  very  great. 

This  vocabulary  is  too  voluminous  to  be  inserted  in  this  volume. 
I  hope  to  publish  it  elsewhere. 

The  language  is  usually  spoken  on  a  high  key,  but  in  a  weak 
tone  and  rather  rapidly.  It  is  particularly  rich  in  nasals,  but  has 
neither  gutturals  nor  sibilants. 

The  sounds  of  s  and  z  do  not  occur  in  it,  nor  those  of  /  and  x. 
I  have  observed  the  sound  of  v  only  in  the  dual  termination 
-cho-vo.  In  many  cases  it  is  impossible  to  distinguish  between 
I  and  r. 


INDEX. 


A. 

Abacaxi  pine-apple,  431. 

Abrolhos  Islands,  derivation  ot  name ;  danger 
in  passing,  174 ;  situation  of,  175 ;  geology 
of,  175  - 179  ;  depth  of  water  in  vicinity  of, 
192 ;  coral  reefs  of,  192  - 11)9 ;  navigable  chan 
nel  inside  of,  201. 

Acantkastrrp.a  Braziliensis  Verr.,  62 ;  described, 
195,  205. 

Aqaricia  Agaricites  Edw.  and  Ilaime,  62,  195. 

Agassiz,  Prof.  Louis,  on  glacier  of  Pacatuba, 
469  ;  on  the  structure  of  the  Organ  Moun 
tains,  15  ;  on  the  Amazonian  sandstones,  487. 

Agassiz,  Madame,  469. 

Agassiz,  Mr.  A.  E. ,  on  the  former  connection 
between  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  across  the 
Isthmus  of  Darien,  393. 

Agate,  531. 

Agoas  Marinhas,  151. 

Agrestes,  name  given  to  Western  Sergipe,  379. 

Aimore's  or  Aimbore's,  57". 

Airi  palm  (Astrocaryum),  94,  216,  298 

Alabaster,  298. 

Alagoas,  general  description  of  province  of, 
422. 

Alcobaca,  224. 

Aldea  Velha,  85. 

Allen,  Mr.  J.  A.,  275,  295,  301 ;  notes  on  the 
geological  character  of  the  country  between 
Chique-Chique  and  Bahia,  309-318  ;  on  salt 
deposit  of  Sao  Francisco  Valley,  331. 

Alluvial  lands  on  Kio  Pardo,  fertility  of,  243  ; 
not  proper  for  coffee,  245. 

Alto  dos  Bois,  excursion  to,  142. 

Alum,  471. 

Amazonas,  derivation  of  name,  484. 

Amazonian  formation  described  by  Professor 
Agassiz  and  Major  Coutinho,  488  ;  Prof.  Ag- 
assiz's  theory  of  the,  490  ;  probably  marine 
and  tertiary,  491 ;  of  Para,  491. 

Amazonian  group,  cretaceous,  556. 

Amethysts,  471,  530. 

Amianthus,  471. 

Ammonites,  384. 

Ammonites  acutocarinatits  Shumard,  389;  A. 
Gibbonianus  Lea,  389,  A.  Hallii  Meek  nnd 
Hayden,  388  ;  A.  Peruvians  Von  Buch,  389 ; 
A.  semistriatus  D'Orb.,  389. 

Awpullaria,  eggs  of,  47. 

Amygdaloid,  530. 

Anacardiitm  occirientale,  465. 

Ananchytes,  occurrence  of,  on  Isthmus  of  Pan 
ama,  392. 

Anchieta,  letter  on  Manati,  75. 

Angico,  bark  of,  used  in  tanning,  411. 

Aninga,  395. 

Anta  (Tapirvs  Americanus),  94. 

Antedon  Dubenii  or  A.  Braziliensis,  62. 


Ants  a  pest  on  the  Una  do  Governador,  5. 

Ant-hills,  82,  375. 

Antimony,  448. 

Aplysia  Argo  D'Orb,  204,  214,  230. 

Aplysia  Braziliensis  Sander  Bang,  204. 

Aquitequediehagas,    custom  of   piercing   the 

lip  and  ears  among.  584. 
Aracaju  (city),  381,  383. 
Aracare,  fossiliferous  shales,  &c.  of,  396. 
Aracaty,  460  ;  country  in  vicinity  of,  461. 
Aranaiis,  tribe  of,  593. 
Aranha  caranguejeira  (Mygale)  of  Abrolhos, 

180. 

Arara  (Psittacus  macoa),  95. 
Araraitaguaba  ( Arara  macaw,  ita  stone,  guaba 

eat,  locality  so  called  from  a  stone  which  the 

parrots  are  said  to  eat),  516. 
Aratii  land  crab,  239. 
Ankles  gold-mine,  545. 
Aricuri  palm  (  Cocos  schizophylla),  237. 
Armacjio,  40. 
Armacilo,  locality,  40  ;  a  trying-house,  182, 183, 

184.      ' 

Arms  of  Botocudos,  590. 
Aroeira  (Sc/iinus  terebinthifolius),  423. 
Arraial  da  Chapada,  gold-washings  of,  497  ; 

their  present  condition,  161  ;  da  Conceicjao, 

498  ;  da  Conquista,  255  ;  d'ltinga  (  Yg  or  ky 

water,  and  tinga  white),  165  ;  das  Queima- 

das,  want  of  rain,  323  ;  de  Sao  Oon^alo,  475. 
Arroio  dos  Ratos,  coal-mines  of,  520. 
Arrows  of  Botocudos,  591. 
Arsenical  pyrites,  540. 
Article,  definite,  use  of  before  names  of  places 

in  Brazil,  ix  ;  use  of  before  name  Brazil,  viii. 
Artorarpus  Braziliensis  Gom.,  245. 
As  Azeites,  115. 

Asplflorfiynr.hus  Comptoni,  467,  468. 
Assahi  (Euterpe  oleracea),  425. 
Assii  (town),  452. 
Astrocaryum  Airi  Mart.,  216. 
As  Trovoadas,  144. 
Ateles,  286. 

Atfles  hypnxanthus,  95. 
Attalea  palm,  144 
Augite,  297. 
Ave-Lallemant,    Dr.,  on    coal-mines    of  Rio 

Grande  do  Sul,  520. 
Avicennia,  social  plant,  256. 


1!. 


Bahia,  description  of  point  on  which  city  is 
built,  333  ;  description  of  city,  334  ;  climate 
of,  337 ;  population,  335 ;  bay  and  harbor  of, 
335 ;  exports  of,  335,  336  ;  steamship  con 
nections,  337 ;  Bahia  de  Todos  os  Santos, 
267  ;  compared  with  Bay  of  Rio,  272. 


608 


INDEX. 


Bahia  Steam  Navigation  Co.,  337,  421. 

Bahia  and  Sao  Francisco  Railroad,  338  ;  geol 
ogy  of,  353. 

Bahia  de  Camamu  described,  262. 

Bahia  de  Espirito  Santo  described,  65  ;  depth 
of,  72  ;  littoral  fauna  of,  73 

Bahia  de  Nova  Almeida,  85. 

Bahia  de  Santa  Cruz,  85. 

Bahian  group,  550. 

Buhii,  isolated  hills  or  gneiss  plain  at,  303. 

Bakues,  tribe  of,  593. 

Bamboo,  84,  141,  216. 

Barauua  (Melauoxylon),  ashes  used  in  tan 
ning,  411. 

Barbacena,  4. 

Barbacena,  Visconde  de,  519. 

Barlwus,  432 ;  on  mouth  of  Rio  Parahyba  do 
Norte,  442. 

Barnacles,  73. 

Barra  do  jardim,  465. 

Barra  do  Commandatuba,  colony  at,  246. 

Barra  do  Rio  de  Contas,  260. 

Barra  do  Patipe,  241. 

Barra  do  Poxim,  241. 

Barra  do  Rio  Grande,  width  of  Sao  Francisco 
valley  below,  332. 

Barra  do  Rio  de  Sao  Francisco,  393. 

Barra  da  Vareda,  country  in  vicinity  of,  252. 

Barra  Secca,  106 ;  lands  at,  107  ;  consolidated 
beach,  107. 

Barreiras  do  Siri,  tertiary  beds  of,  56. 

Barrel  quartz  at  Minas  Novas,  157. 

Barrigudo  trees,  91,  166,  251. 

Barro  vermelho,  514. 

Basin  of  Rio  Parnahyba  one  sided,  474. 

Bateia,  wooden  pan  for  washing  gold  and  dia 
monds,  160. 

Bates's  "The  Naturalist  on  the  Amazonas," 
494. 

Beach  ridges,  113, 114, 115, 123  ;  formation  of, 
due  sometimes  to  storms,  220. 

Beach,  raised,  at  Santos,  507. 

Beaches,  solidification  of,  at  Bahia,  342  ;  at 
Rio  Vermelho,  344  ;  at  the  Abrolhos,  179. 

Beaches  solidified,  189. 

Baturite,  460. 

Bats,  bones  of,  in  caves  at  Lagoa  Santa,  285. 

Bauhinia,  250. 

Bay  of  Rio,  description  of,  6 ;  depth,  7  ;  shell 
deposits  of,  7  ;  corals  of,  7 ;  tide  of,  7,  8  ; 
saltness  of,  8  ;  entrance  to,  8 ;  once  filled 
with  tertiary  beds,  22. 

Beans,  120,  454. 

Beira-mar,  459. 

Belmonte,  173  ;  sand  plain  near,  how  formed, 
235. 

Bemdego  meteorolite,  325. 

Benevente,  harbor  of,  &c.,  60. 

Bignonia  Braziliensis,  93 ;  B.  Tecoma,  408 ; 
species  of,  social  plant,  256. 

Biotite,  447 

Birds,  bones  of,  in  caves  at  Lagoa  Santa,  285. 

Bismuth,  occurrence  of  in  auriferous  vein  at 
Cata  Branca,  545. 

Black  water  streams,  122,  217,  227. 

Blumenbach  on  skull  of  Botocudo,  587. 

Boassica,  cretaceous  sandstone  at,  derivation 
of  name,  398. 

Boa  Vista,  height  of  pass  of,  12,  26. 

Bolerio,  141. 

Bom  Fim,  cretaceous  strata  of,  346, 

Bone  of  whale  valuable  for  manure,  184 


Bones,  fossil,  in  caves,  mode  of  occurrence  of, 
284 ;  immense  number  of  recent  species,  285. 

Bone  caverns,  extent  of,  how  formed,  stalac 
tites  and  clay  deposits  in,  283 ;  number  of, 
284  :  of  Rio  das  Velhas,  280. 

Bodoijue,  578. 

Bore  or  Pororoca,  486. 


skulls  of,  585 ;  color  of,  588  ;  dislike  of  cloth- 


religious  ideas  of,  599 ;  funeral  customs,  599  ; 
want  of  numerals,  604 ;  warfare  of,  600;  lan 
guage  of,  602 ;  Botocjue,  or  lip  and  ear  orna 
ment,  578,  583. 

Boulders,  scarcity  of  in  drift,  24 ;  occurrence 
of,  at  Tjjuca,  28  -  30  ;  paucity  of,  owing  to 
decomposition,  573  ;  boulders  of  decomposi 
tion,  594  ;  at  Victoria,  how  formed,  69. 

Bows  of  Botocudo,  591. 

Bra(jo  do  Norte  of  River  Sao  Matheos,  117. 

BKHJO  do  Sul  of  Rio  Sao  Matheos,  117 

Brachiopods,  palaeozoic,  at  first  cachoeira  of 
the  Rio  Tapajos,  488- 

Brackish  streams,  255. 

Bradypus  trirlactylun,  94 

Brailyjnts  torrjuatus,  94. 

Braganza,  waste  of  land  on  bay  of,  491. 

Brazil,  derivation  of  name,  x;  use  of  article 
before  the  word,  viii. 

Bromeliaceous  plants,  249,  250 

Brunet,  Dr.,  272,  421 

Bugres,  578. 

liuriti  palm  (Mauritia  rinifera),  277. 

Burning  of  forest,  injurious  effects  of,  78 ; 
change  of  flora  caused  by,  423. 

Burton,  276  ;  on  use  of  definite  article  before 
word  Brazil,  viii;  on  Jacutinga,  535:  on 
occurrence  of  cocoa  palm  at  Brejo  do  Saiga- 
do,  119. 

Byrsonema,  465. 


Cabbage  palm,  94. 

Cabral,  discovery  of  Brazil,  226. 

Cacao  (  Theobroma  Cacao),  120,  236,  244.  259, 

260,  261. 

Cacaoeiros,  cacao  plantations,  244. 
Cachoeira  (Town),  272 

Cachoeira  (Bahia),  county  in  vicinity  of,  322. 
Cachoeiras,  21. 
Caco,  sugary  quartz,  534. 
Cacti,  237  ;  arborescent,  152. 
Cngel6  whale,  182. 
Caiauh6  (  Elce.is  Guineensis  L.),  270 
Caititu,  94. 

Cajii  or  Cashew,  459,  465. 
Cajueira  (Anac.ardium  occidental),  116. 
Caladium,  249. 
Catamites,  525 

Calamopleurus  cylindricus,  468. 
Caldeiroes,  314 ;  of  probable  glacial  origin,  315 ; 

mastodon   remains  at,  325 ;  occurrence  of 

diamonds  in,  307. 
Calhao,  152 
Callit/irix,  95,  286. 
Camamu,  geology  of,  262. 
Camassari ,  geology  of  vicinity  of,  361. 


INDEX. 


609 


Campinas,  plains  of,  506V 

Canipo,  section  at,  365. 

Campos,  city  of,  46  ;  vicinity  of,  47. 

Campos,  character  of  their  fiorae  largely  due 
to  fires,  320. 

Cauipos  of  Alto  dos  Bois,  146 

Campos,  Liais's  picture  of,  290. 

Canal  uniting  Macah6  with  Campos,  43 ;  be 
tween  Cannavieiras  and  Commandatuba, 
246  ;  between  Rio  Doce  and  Victoria  im 
practicable,  80  ;  connecting  Kio  Jecii  with 
Victoria,  64  ;  projected  along  coast  south  of 
Caravellas,  223. 

Candles  of  Caruahuba  wax,  453. 

Candona  Candida  Miill.,  348. 

Canga,  gold  in,  536,  543. 

Cannibalism  among  Botocudos,  600. 

Cansanijao  (Jatropka  urens),  250. 

Cantagallo,  old  gold-mines  at,  50. 

Canon  of  the  Jequitinhonha,  163. 

Cape  Frio,  39  ;  height  of,  3'J. 

Capibara  (Hydrocharus  Capabara).  94. 

Capibara,  fossil  (Hydrochtzrus  sulcidens),  287. 

Capoes,  146,  147. 

Carapato  (Ixodes  ricinus),  153,  155,  257 

Carapina,  82. 

Caravellas,  223. 

Carboniferous  in  Brazil,  553  ;  fossils,  occur 
rence  of,  on  Guapor6  and  Momorg,  488. 

Cariocar,  291,  465. 

Carnadeiras,  fever  of  Upper  Sao  Francisco,  292. 

Caruahuba  palm  (Copernicia  cerifera),  de 
scription  of,  452,  446,  459,  460,  401 ;  wax  of, 
453. 

Carnivora  more  abundant  in  Post  Tertiary 
than  at  present,  288. 

Carnelian,  531 

Carrasco,  147,  253,  429. 

Cascalho,  meaning  of  word,  51 ;  auriferous, 
of  Minas  Nova  region,  159  ;  auriferous,  at 
Jaragua,  512. 

Caseate  Grande,  27. 

Cassis  Marlagascarifnsis  (C.  Cameo),  at  Os 
Busies,  39,  198,  203 

Castelnau,  496,  501,  504 ;  on  chapada  diaman- 
tina,  307  ;  on  whale  fishery  at  Baliia,  185. 

Cata  Branca  gold-mines,  544  ;  auriferous  vein 
at',  545. 

Catinga  de  Porco  (tree),  ashes  used  in  tanning, 
411. 

Catiirgas,  144, 151,  250,  251,  296,  322,  452. 

Cattle  and  cattle  fazendas  in  Province  of  Rio 
Grande  do  Norte,  454. 

Cavia  (  Ccr/ngenys  rupestrit),  257 ;  bones  of,  in 
caves,  285. 

Caximba  Nova,  446. 

Caxoeira  do  Angelim,  168  ;  do  Campo,  bone 
caves  at,  281,  285  ;  de  Dorma,  167  ;  da  Fa- 
rinha,  168  ;  do  Inferno,  88, 169. 

Caxoeirinha  do  Jequitinhonha,  171. 

Cachoeira  de  Paulo  Affonso,  distance  from  the 
sea,  llnlfeld's  description  of,  414  ;  Liais  on. 
415,  418 ;  compared  with  those  of  Salto 
Grande  on  the  Jequitinhonha,  417  ;  Burton 
on,  418  ;  compared  with  Niagara,  418. 

Caxoeirinha  do  Rio  Pardo,  242 

Caxoeira  de  Santa  Anna,  169. 

Cazal,  226,  430,  486  ,  on  mastodon  remains, 
261 ;  on  fossil  bones,  280 

Cebus,  95. 

Cecropin,  94  :  social  plant,  256. 

Cedro  cedrela,  94,  261,  459. 

26* 


Cemeterio  of  the  Abrolhos,  180. 

Centipede,  375. 

Ceratites  Harttii,  386  ;  C.  (Amm.)  Pierdenalis 
Von  Buch,  388. 

Cereus,  250,  296,  407,  423. 

Cerithium,  229. 

Cervus,  95. 

Cereus  rufus.  fossil  with  megatherium,  &c  , 
286. 

Cervus  simplicicornis  found  with  megatheri 
um,  &c.,  286. 

Cesalpina  echiitata,  94 

Chalcedony,  531. 

C/tama,  229 

Chandless,  500,  503;  discovery  of  Mosasauri- 
au  and  turtle  remains  on  the  Purus,  494 

Chapada,  meaning  of  term,  132;  at  Agua  da 
Nova,  149,  150  ;  magnificent  view  from  edge 
of,  150. 

Chapada  Diamantina,  geology  of,  295  ;  height 
of,  301 ;  da  Mangabeira,  497 ;  at  Santa  Rita, 
144  ;  do  Sincori,  306  ;  between  Sucuriu  and 
Agua  Suja,  153. 

Chapadas  of  Piauhy,  474  ;  of  Rio  Jequitin 
honha,  165,  168  ;  of  Rio  de  Sao  Francisco, 
277,  291 ;  between  the  basins  of  the  Toean- 
tins  and  Sao  Francisco,  499. 

Chapadao  de  Santa  Maria,  499  ,  do  Urucuia. 
499. 

Chapeiroes,  211,  212,  213  ;  dangerous  to  navi 
gation,  201 ;  distribution  of,  211  ;  mode  of 
growth  of,  199;  coalescence  to  form  reefs, 
200  ;  appearance  of,  200 

Charruas,  custom  of  piercing  lip  and  ears,  584 

Chelonia  Mi/das,  112,  113. 

Chiefs,  Botocudo,  592. 

Chique-Cbique,  cactus,  408:   town,  origin  of 
name,  309 ;   occurrence  of  diamonds  near, 
307. 
'  C.'ilamydotherium ,  286. 

Chlorite,  328. 

Chloiite  slate,  299. 

Chrome  localities  in  Goyaz,  503. 

Ci ilar is,  386. 

C'ladocyclus  Garrlneri,  468. 

Claussen,  Mr.,  281. 

Clays  of  Amazonian  formation,  488. 

Clays  of  Tertiary,  57,  124,  225. 

Clay-eating  among  Botocudos  and  Brazilians, 
581. 

Clay-slate,  151,  298,  328,  464,  500 ;  auriferous, 
distribution  of,  552. 

Clay-slates,  auriferous,  of  Brazil,  resemblance 
borne  to  the  gold-bearing  rocks  of  Nova 
Scotia,  551  ;  probably  Lower  Silurian,  551 ; 
auriferous  veins  in,  533 ;  absence  of,  in  eozoic 
of  Brazil,  549. 

Climate  of  campos,  253 .  of  Ceara,  458 ;  moist- 
ness  of,  dependent  on  forests,  321 ;  of  Co- 
Ionia  Leopoldina,  unhealthiness  of,  217; 
of  Fernando  de  Noronha,  439;  of  Maran- 
hao,  485  ;  of  Rio  Grande  do  Norte,  454  ; 
of  Sao  Francisco  below  falls,  420 ;  of  Per- 
nambuco,  429,  of  Rio  Doce,  98;  of  Rio 
Grande  do  Norte,  441 ;  of  Lower  Sao  Fran 
cisco,  420. 

Coal,  Candiota,  report  on,  by  Mr.  Ginty,  628  , 
facilities  for  mining  in  Rio  Grande  do  Sul, 
526 ;  cost  of,  527 ;  said  to  occur  on  Rio 
Piauhy,  380 

Coal  Basin  on  Rio  Jacuahy,  530 ;  on  Rio  Sao 
Sepe,  529  ;  of  Kio  Tubarao,  519 


G10 


INDEX. 


Coal-mines  of  Rio  Grande  do  Sul,  discovery 
of,  619. 

Cochineal,  408,  454. 

Cocoa  palm  ( Cocos  nucifera),  distribution  of, 
&c.,  118,  '^38,  271,  431,  437  ;  oil  of,  238. 

Cocos  coronata  Mart.,  298  ;  C.Jiexuosa,  146  ; 
C.  nucifera,  distribution  of,  &c.,  118;  C. 
schizophylla,  237 ,  298. 

Cotfee,  79, 101, 123,  244,  261,  265,  459  ;  export 
of,  from  B.ihia  for  year  1864-65,  336  ;  plan 
tation  of  Campinas,  514  ;  of  the  Colouia  Leo- 
poldina,  excellence  of,  217. 

Colonia  do  Guandii,  90;  Leopoldina,  217:  do 
Mucury,  history  and  present  state  of,  131 ; 
de  Santa  Leopoldina,  78  ;  poverty  of  soil, 
79  :  de  Santa  Isabel,  65 ;  de  Santa  Maria,  76 ; 
de  fanta  Theresa,  518  ;  do  Uruc-ii,  produc 
tions,  climate,  scenery,  &c.,  133. 

Colony,  American,  on  Jeuuitinhonha,  172  ;  on 
Rio  Doce,  105. 

Color  of  skin  lighter  in  forest-dwelling  tribes, 
588. 

Comatula,  62. 

Commercio,  306. 

Compass,  miner's.  530. 

Conglomerate,  242,  301,  462  ;  cretaceous,  354  ; 
tertiary  at  Agoa  da  Nova,  150. 

Congonhas  do  Campo,  gold  at,  544. 

Conocarpus,  social  plant,  256. 

Consolidated  beach  at  As  Pedras,  113  :  at  Bar- 
ra  Secca,  107  ;  at  mouth  of  Rio  Parahyba 
do  Norte,  442  ;  at  Guarapary,  62  ;  of  Per- 
nambuco,  434 ;  at  the  islands  of  the  Abrol 
hos,  179. 

Cn/iaifera  offleinoKs.  93. 

Copeland,  Mr.,  142,242. 

Copocabana,  gneiss  of,  10. 

Copper,  472 ;  boulder,  found  near  Cachoeira, 
300  ;  localities  for,  in  Brazil,  300  ;  sulphate 
and  other  salts  of,  488. 

Corals  at  Itamaracu,  437 ;  dead,  near  Rio  Sant' 
Antonio,  234:  distribution  of  on  submerged 
border  of  Recife  do  Lixo,  210  ;  used  for  man 
ufacturing  into  lime,  213. 

Coral  banks  near  Ilha  Itaparica,  269  ;  in  Bay 
of  Caniamii,265  ;  dead,  in  Lagoauear  llheos, 
259. 

Coral  islands,  211,  212. 

Coral  reefs,  height  of  edge  of,  209  ;  in  vicinity 
of  Pernambuco,  214;  near  Camamii,  213; 
around  Quieppe  Island,  213;  of  Abrolhos, 
187 ;  of  Pernambuco,  188 ;  ofMaceio,  188,213, 
425  ;  near  Cape  Sao  Roque,  188  :  of  Roccas, 
214;  off  Periperi,213;  of  Santa  Barbara  dos 
Abrolhos,  192  ;  species  that  contribute  most 
to  build  up,  214  ;  raised  border  to,  composed 
of  barnacles,  serpulse,  &c.,  205  ;  submerged 
border  of,  205. 

Corcovado,  description  of,  9 ;  magnificence  of 
view  from,  11. 

Corn,  152. 

Coroa  Vermelha,  211. 
Cnronula,  112. 

Corrego  de  Santo  Ignacio,  diamonds  in,  307. 

Cotigipe,  cretaceous  rocks  at,  359. 
Cotinguiban  group  556. 

Cotton,  225,  336.  441,  442,  443,  459,  486;  of 
Calhao,  excellent  quality  of,  152  ;  of  Per 
nambuco,  quality  of,  431 ;  of  Rio  Grande  do 
Norte,  452  ;  value  of,  exported  from  Bahia 
during  year  1864  -  65,  336  ;  factory,  206. 
Crabs,  burrows  made  by,  in  shales,  353. 


Cratheus,  457. 
Crato,  460,  463. 
Crux,  95. 

Cretaceous,  of  Abrolhos,  175 ;  of  Monserrate 
and  vicinity  of  Bahia,  346 ;  beds  at  Bahia 


IIBUUO    ui   v^ctira, 

Resume,  555. 
Crocodilus  Harttii  Marsh.  355. 
Crustaceans,  abundance  of,  on  reefs  ;  list  of 

species    occurring  on   the   Abrolhos   reefs, 

203  ;  list  of  species  occurring  elsewhere  in 

Brazil,  203. 
Crijsoberyls,  151,  164. 
Cuiaba,  500  ;  diamonds  at,  504. 
Curimataes  (fish),  399. 
Curitiba,  517- 
Cuscuta,  375. 
Cutia  (Dasyprocta),  94. 
Cypra-a  exanthema,  40. 
Cypris(!)AUportianaJonef.  348 ;  C.  concukata 

Jones, 348  j  C.  (?)  Monserratensis  Jones, 348. 


1). 


Dance  of  Botocudos,  601. 

Darwin  on  phosphate  incrustation  of  Abrol 
hos,  178 ;  on  corals  of  Brazil,  187  ;  on  Island 
of  1'ernaudo  de  Noronha,  437. 

Date  palm,  425. 

Davis,  Dr.  J.  Barnard,  on  skull  of  Botocudo, 
585. 

D'Archiac,  carboniferous  rocks  in  Bolivia,  554. 

De  Beaumont,  Elie,  on  the  gneiss  of  the  Serra 
do  Mar,  548. 

Decomposition  of  gneiss,  24 ;  Darwin,  Agassiz, 
Pissis,  Heusser,  and  Claraz  on,  24 ;  cause 
of,  25,  26. 

Decomposition  of  rocks  in  India  and  North 
America,  26. 

Decomposition,  drift  not  referable  to,  563. 

Decomposed  rock  separate  between  drift  and 
easily  distinguished,  564. 

Deer  of  Campos,  147. 

Dende  (Elrris  Guineensis),  270,  425- 

Denudation,  subaerial,  effects  of,  33 

D'Orbigny  on  gneisses  of  Bolivia,  548. 

D'Oery,  on  Cata  Branca  mine,  546. 

Desterro,  519. 

Devonian  rocks  in  Brazil,  553. 

Diamantiferous  rock  from  chapada,  304. 

Diamantino,  500,  504. 

Diauiantina,  diamonds  at,  156. 

Diamonds,  discovery  of,  at  Diamantina,  156 ; 
mode  of  occurrence  of,  at  Chapada  Diaman 
tina,  302 -.309;  yield  of,  at,  308;  of  Sin- 
cora,  306 ;  of  Pe'tanga,  Bahia,  mode  of  oc 
currence  of  and  method  of  washing,  369 ; 
probable  source  of,  370  ;  localities  for  in 
Goyaz,  503;  occurrence  of  in  Province  of 
Parana,  518. 

Dirtelphys,  94. 

Dinosaurian  remains,  cretaceous,  Bahia,  356 

Diorite,  296. 

Diplorta,  absence  of,  in  Brazil,  214. 

Diplntliemium  tnaritimum,  237. 

Disthene,  325. 


INDEX. 


Gil 


Dolphin,  species  of,  found  in  the  Araguaya, 
502. 

Doni  Pedro  II.,  the  Emperor,  geological  obser 
vations  of,  35. 

Dom  Pedro  II.  Kailroad,  geological  observa 
tions  on,  14 

Dom  Pedro,  North  d'El-Rei  Company,  542. 

Drawings,  Indian,  297,  326. 

Drift  on  Cautugallo  Railroad,  20  ;  of  Rio,  23, 
561 ;  at  Tyuca,  27  ;  of  Victoria,  69 ;  on  Phila 
delphia  road,  132  ;  at  Alto  dosBois,  145  ;  near 
Fazenda  da  Lagoa,  148 ;  near  Calhio,  151 ; 
of  Miuas  Nova  and  vicinity,  mode  of  occur 
rence  of  gold  in,  160  ;  at  Bahia,  341 ;  once 
continuous  down  to  tbe  surface  of  the  sea, 
342  ;  on  Bahia  Railroad,  366 ;  on  Lower  Sao 
Francisco.  419  ;  of  C'eara,  469  ;  on  Sao  Paulo 
Railroad,  '508  ;  of  Patagonia,  558  ;  Resume 
of  arguments  to  prove  existence  of  in  Brazil, 
558  ;  distribution  of  in  Brazil,  561 ;  clays  of, 
totally  unlike  those  of  the  tertiary,  568  ;  for 
mer  extension  down  to  level  of  sea,  572. 

Drought  in  Ceara,  459. 

Dry  season,  abundance  of  life  during,  155. 

Dual  form  in  Botocudo  language,  604. 

Dunes,  124, 332, 345, 380, 382, 394 ;  in  Province 
of  Rio  Grande  do  Norte,  455  ;  Ceara,  458. 


E. 


Ears,  perforation  of,  by  Potocudos,  how  per 
formed,  582. 

Ear-plug,  583. 

Echinaster  crassispina,  62. 

Ecliinometra  Mic/ielini  Desor,  62,  203,  214  ; 
nests  of,  in  rock  at  island  of  Maric.is,  36. 

Edwards,  Prof.  A.  II.,  on  turba  of  Camamu, 
263. 

Eggs  of  loggerhead  turtle,  110. 

Elephants  in  Post  Tertiary  in  Brazil,  288. 

Elevation  of  coast  within  recent  times,  evidence 
of,  at  Rio,  35. 

Embaliba  ( Cecropia),  94. 

Ema  (Rkea  Americana),  146,  254. 

Encope  emarginatus,  occurrence  of,  at  Rio 
Sant'  Antonio,  235. 

Engeraokmung,  577. 

Entomnstraca,  cretaceous,  347,  348. 

Entre  Montes  (village),  411. 

Eozoic  rocks,  occurrence  of  gold  in,  532 ;  dis 
tribution  of,  in  Brazil,  547 ;  of  Venezuela 
and  Guiana,  550. 

Eretmochelys  imbricata,  notes  on,  112. 

Eriocaulon,  423. 

Erosion,  topographical  features  produced  by, 
in  moist  and  wooded  region,  318. 

Erratics,  489. 

Escadinhas,  Cachoeira  das,  89. 

Estreito  on  .Joquitinhonha,  166. 

Estaneia,  Geology  of  vicinity  of,  379. 

Estherians,  445. 

Eugenia,  249. 

Eunieea  humilis  Edw.  and  Haime,  62,  74, 
196,  229. 

Exports  of  city  of  Bahia  during  year  1864-65, 
336,  337. 

F. 

Falls  of  Paulo  Affonso,  414 :  of  Jequitinhonha, 
170. 


Farinha,  120  ;  exportation  of,  from  Rio  de  Con- 

tas,  261. 
Farrancho,  167. 

Faults,  apparent  absence  of,  448. 
Fauna,  marine,  of  Brazil,  resemblance  to  that 

of  West  Indies,  198. 
Faunas,  comparison  of  Brazilian  radiate  fauna 

with  the  West  Indian,  214. 
Favia  conferta  Verr.,194;  F.  gravida  Verr., 

194  ;  F.  leptophylla,  207. 
Feira  da  Conceicao,  couutry  in  vicinity  of,  322. 
Felis  concolor,  95,  286  ;  F.  macroura,  95  ;  F. 

oMfa,  95  ;  F.  pardalis,  95  ;  jF.  mitis,  286 ; 

F.  proto/iunther,  287. 

Ferns,  fossil,  of  Caudiota  coal-mines,  522. 
Fazenda  do  Capitao  Grande,  117  ;  do  Tenente 

Ilonorio  Ottoni,  drift  in  vicinity  of,  148  ;  at 

Escravania,  immense  number  of  bones  in 

cave  at,  285. 
Feijao  (beaus),  79. 
Feijo  on  structure  of  Serra  da  Ybiapaba,  457  ; 

on  gold  of  Ceara,  472. 
Fevers  of  Rio  Doce,  t-8  ;  of  Sao  Matheos,  118  ; 

on  the  Jequitijihouha,  cause  of,  169. 
Fiddle  crabs,  230. 

Fires,  effect  of,  on  vegetation,  83,  320,  375. 
Fish,  excellence  of  Brazilian,  186;  fossil,  347, 

353,  354,  355,  359,  371,  384,  445,  466,  477. 
Fisheries  of  Esyirito  Santo,  richness  of,  81. 
Fishery  of  Garoupa  in  Abrolhos  region,  185. 
Fleming! tes  Pedroanus  Carruthers,  524. 
Fletcher,  Rev.  J.  C.,514. 
Folds,  reversed,  in  Eozoic,  550. 
Forbes  on  Siluria  of  Bolivia  and  Peru,  552. 
Forest,  luxuriance  of,  on  Rio  Doce,  93  ;  on  Rio 

Pardo,  245. 
Forests,  belt  of,  coincidence  with  belt  of  rains, 

319 ;  losing  their  hold,  giving  way  to  cam- 

pos,  319;  effect  of  fires,  320  ;  decomposition 

dependent  on  forests,  320. 
Fortaleza  (city),  location  and  population  of, 

460. 
Fossils  (foreign),  carried  in  ballast,  necessity 

of  caution,  269. 

Fossils  of  Siluria  in  Bolivia  and  Peru,  552. 
Fossil  bones,  280,  311;  plants  of  Abrolhos, 

176 ;  plants  of  carboniferous,  523 ;  shells  of 

recent  species  in  reef  rock  at  Porto  Seguro, 

229;  shells,  reptilian  remains,  &c.,  in  cre 
taceous  of  Monserrate,  345;   of  cretaceous 

of  Maro'i'm,  385  ;  shells  near  Propria,  404. 
Frade  de  Macahe,  height  of,  42  ;  de  Itape'ine- 

rini,  height  of,  58  ;  de  Sao  Leopardo,  68. 
Francylvania,  location,  history  of,  &c.,  95. 
Freshet  (annual   of  Sao  Francisco,  420. 
Frigate-bird   (Tachypetes  aquihna),  cemetery 

of  the,  180. 

Frogs,  bones  of,  in  caves,  275. 
Fruita  pao  (Artocarpus  incisa  ,  245. 
Funeral  customs  of  Botocudos,  599. 


G. 

Galena,  448,  472. 

Gamella  (bateia),  512. 

Gamellas,  Indian  tribe,  custom  of  piercing  lip 
and  ear,  584. 

Gardner  on  mythical  reef,  189 ;  note  on  Pi 
ranha,  400  ;  Paper  on  the  Interior  of  the 
Province  of  Ceani,  460  ;  probably  wrong  in 
referring  the  sandstone  of  Piauhy  and  Ceara 
to  the  cretaceous,  476. 


612 


INDEX. 


Garnets,  13,  21,  49,  50, 151. 

Garrafao,  near  Rio  Itabapuana,  height  of,  53. 

Gavia,  height  of,  10. 

Gazzinelli,  Signoru,  129. 

Gelasimus  Marac.oani  Latreille,  229 ;  G.  palus- 

tris  Edwards,  230. 

Genipapo,  black  color,  furnished  by,  589. 
Geoffroya,  408. 
Gerber,  3. 

German  colonists  at  Santa  Clara,  132. 
Gibbs,  Hon.  George,  584. 
Glaciated  surfaces,  character  of,  24. 
Glacier  of  Pacatuba,  469  ;   of  the  Amazonas, 

490. 

Glacial  phenomena  of  Patagonia,  558. 
Glyptodon.  286. 


»_2,  323,  324,  338,  340,  SOU,  372,  4U5,  445, 
449,  458,  461,  402,  403,  474,  500,  501,  549, 
650. 

God,  Botocudos,  destitution  of  belief  in,  599. 

Goitre  in  Brazil,  330. 

Gold,  297,  448,  471,  497,  503,  513  ;  at  Canta- 
gallo,  50  ;  on  the  Rio  Mangarahy,  77 ;  on 
Rio  do  Castello,  59  ;  in  drift  at  Sucuriu, 
153  ;  of  vicinity  of  Miuas  Novas,  ancient 
method  of  working,  160 ;  abundance  of, 
in  Minas  Nova  region,  not  yet  exhausted, 
156,  161 ;  probable  existence  of,  in  tertiary 
deposits  iii  Brazil,  162 ;  mode  of  occurr 
ence  of,  in  Parahyba  do  Norte,  448 ;  at  A'illa 
das  Lavras  da  Maugabeira,  463  ;  mines  of 
Jaragua,  513;  of  Brazil,  age  of,  632;  dis 
tribution  of,  in  Brazil,  632;  mode  of  oc 
currence  at  Morro  Velho,  537 ;  of  Morro 
Velho  invisible  in  the  ore,  541 ;  mode  of  oc 
currence  of,  at  Rossa  Grande,  542 ;  red,  542, 
545 ;  of  Gongo  Soco,  641 ;  color  of,  642. 
(See  Chap.  XVIII.) 

Gorgonia  gracilis  Verrill,  209. 

Goyabeira,  47. 

Granite,  295,  500. 

Granja,  460. 

Graphite,  448,  458,  472,  525. 

Grazina  ( Phai  ton),  180. 

Greenstone,  328. 

Green  turtle,  112. 

Grisolitas,  151. 

Guarapary,  harbor  of,  63. 

Guarapuava,  gold  at,  513. 

Guayana,  Tertiary  rocks  of,  493. 

Guayamu,  or  Guainumu  (Cardiosoma  Guan- 

Gullies  formed  by  rains,  159. 

Guriri    (Diplntliemhnn    maritimum    Mart.), 

237 ;  a  social  plant,  256. 
Gypsum,  471. 

II. 

Halfcld,  414  ;  on  mastodon  remains  found  near 

Paulo  Alfonso,  418. 
Harbor  of   Ilheos,  258;   of  Maceio,  425;  of 

Pernambuco,  435. 
Hares,  95. 

Hehastra-a  aperta  Verr.,  207,  213,  269. 
Heliconia,  94,  249. 
Helmreichen,  Dr.  Virgilio,  section  across  the 

Jequitinhonha  valley,  138 ;  on  the  Serra  da 

Chapada,  306. 


Ileusser  and  Claraz,  534. 

"Highlands  of  Brazil,"  276. 

Hills  or  Serras,  isolated,  on  limestone  plain, 

310. 

Holothurians,  62. 
Hoplophorutj  286. 

Hornstone,  hills  of,  near  Volta  da  Serra,  312. 
Houses  of  Botocudos,  596. 
Humboldt  on  name  Brazil,  x;  on  distribution 

of  cocoa  palm,  120 ;  on  social  plants,  255. 
Humpback  whales,  181. 
Hunt,  Dr.  T.  Sterry,  on  Laurentian  of  Brazil, 

650. 
Hyatt,   Alpheus,   on  cretaceous  fossils  from 

MaroYm,  385. 
Hymenogorgia  (Gorgonia)  quercifolia,  62,  74, 

196,  229. 

I. 

Ico,  460. 

Iguape  ( Yg  water,  gua  of  varied  color,  p6  way, 
Mart.),  fertility  of  vicinity  of,  271. 

Ilex  paraguayensis,  517. 

Ilha  do  Paqueti,  das  Cobras,  do  Governador, 
Euxada,  6 ;  do  Lima,  45;  Escalvada,  Raza, 
63;  doBoi,decomposinggneiss,70 ;  Baleciro, 
corals  of  74 ;  de  Santa  Barbara  dos  Abrol- 
hos,  175  Redonda  dos  Abrolhos,  178;  Ita- 
parica,  267,  coral  banks  of,  213  ;  Grande, 
258;  Pequena,  258;  Boyapeba,  265;  dos 
Fradres,267;  Itamaraca,  437  ;  de  Fernando 
de  Noronha,  437;  do  Bananal,  602;  de 
Quioppe,  523. 

Ilhas  de  Maricas,  evidence  of  recent  rise  of,  35, 
36  ;  de  Santa  Anna,  41 ;  dos  Paeotes,  71. 

Ilheos,  258- 

Imbuzeiro  (Spondias  tuberosa  Arr. ),  323. 

Implements,  human,  in  bone  caverns,  286; 
of  Botocudos,  592. 

Indai&  palm,  144  ;  (Attalea  compta  Mart.), 
144,  166. 

Inga,  94,  116,  249  :  gneiss  at,  446. 

Inoceramus  in  cretaceous  near  Aracaju,  384. 

Ipe  (Tecoma),  94. 

Ipecacuanha,  459. 

Ipomcea  littnralis,  237. 

Iron  ore,  58,  299,  301,  407,  447,  503,  515,  525. 

Iron  mines  and  works  of  Ypanema.  515. 

Island  of  Victoria,  66  ;  height  of,  67. 

Itabapuana  (Hy  water,  taba  village,  apuan 
round?) 

Itabirite  and  jacutinga  auriferous,  633. 

Itabirite,  534. 

Itacolumi,  height  of,  3 ;  (Maranhao),  484. 

Itacolumitc,  541,  545  ;  the  term  loosely  em 
ployed,  332  ;  gold  in,  533. 

Itaipins  reef,  257. 

Itambe'  (ltd  stone,  and  faimbe  rough), 

Itanhaem  (Ita  stone,  and  nhetng  speak,  echo 
ing  rock). 

Itapagipe,  334. 

Itapitinga  (reef),  258. 

Itapuan  (ita  rock,  apuan  round),  346. 

Itatiaiossu,  Pico  de,  2  ;  height  of,  3. 

Itii  (hit  or  Ytu  a  fall),  gold  at,  510. 


.1. 


JacarandA  (Signonia  Braziliensis),  93.  228, 

246,  261,  459. 
Jacar6,  salt  deposits  of,  329, 


INDEX. 


613 


Jacehus  (Hapale)  leucocephalus,  95. 
Jaguaripe,  268. 

Jack  tree  (Artocarpus  Braziliensis  Gom.),  245. 
Jacobina,  character  of  country  in  vicinity  of, 

312  ;  climate  of,  317. 
Jacupemba  ( Penelope  marail),  95. 
Jacutinga,    derivation    of    name,    633  ;    de 
scribed,  534,  535 ;   gold  in,  free,  535 ;  at 

Gongo  Soco,  541. 
James,  Major  0.  0.,  507,  514,  584. 
Janahuba,  374. 

Janchon,  bad  spirit  of  Botocudos,  599. 
Jangadas,  number  of,  in  Province  of  Pernam- 

buco,  432. 

Januaria,  salt  licks  of,  320. 
Jaragua,  port  of  Maceio,  425 ;  gold-mines  of, 

Mawe's  account  of,  511. 
Jatropha,  249. 

Jequii,  tertiary  bluffs  of,  422. 
Jiporock,  tribe  of,  593 ;  Botocudo  chief,  594. 
Joazeiro,  327,  408. 
Jundiahy,  513. 
Jurassic  rocks  not  yet  known  in  Brazil,  554  ; 

of  Andes,  554. 
Jurupencem,  head  of  navigation  of  Araguaya, 

501 

K. 

Kielmeyera,  291. 

Kjoekkemnoeddings  on  the  Ula  do  Governa- 

dor,  6 ;  at  Santos,  6 ;  at  Santa  Cruz,  6,  85. 
Knobs,  isolated,  on  lake  plain,  315. 
Koloshians  of  Alaska,  custom  of  piercing  the 

lip,  584. 

Kuparack,  skull  of,  described,  584. 
Kyanite,  145. 


Lacerda,  Dr.  de,  337,  421. 

Lagoa  de  Freitas,  11 ;  de  Marica,  37;  Saquare- 
ma,  37  ;  Araruama,  38  ;  Feia,  44 ;  do  Cam- 
pello,  45;  Maroba,  56;  Jacun6,  83;  Jupa- 
ranaa,  its  depth,  color  of  water,  tertiary 
beds,  100;  do  Aviso,  103;  de  Monserras, 
106;  Tapada,  107;  Mariricii,  115;  Gavata, 
227  ;  do  Braco,  near  Belmoute,  236;  Santa, 
281 ;  at  Jacobina  on  the  Sao  Francisco,  409 ; 
da  Pedra,  mastodon  remains  in,  418 ;  do 
Norte,  Alagoas,  422 ;  do  Sul,  Alagoas,  422 ; 
Paranagui,  474. 

Lagoons  along  coast,  formation  of,  44. 

Lake  Plain  of  Bahia,  314  ;  lakes  of,  314. 

Lameirao,  76. 

Lands  of  Rio  das  Velhas,  290. 

Language  of  Botocudos,  602 ;  simplicity  of 
grammatical  structure  of,  603. 

Lapa  Vermelha,  282. 

Laurentian  rocks,  447,  449  ;  resemblance  be 
tween  Brazilian  gneisses  and  Laurentian  of 
Canada,  549. 

Laurus,  249. 

Lead,  sulphate  of,  chromate  of,  sulphide  of, 
carbonate  of,  chloro-phosphate  of,  448. 

Leather-back  turtle,  112. 

Leaves,  shedding  of,  by  catinga  woods  in  dry 
season,  322  ;  rapid  growth  of,  on  approach 
of  wet  season,  322. 

Lecythis,9±,?A9. 

Leite,  Dr.  Franca,  his  colony  on  the  Rio 
Doce,  95. 

Lengoas  custom  of  piercing  lip  and  ears,  584. 


Len«j6es,  diamond  washings  at,  307 

Linhares,  fertility  of  lands  near,  103. 

Lizards,  bones  of,  in  caverns,  285. 

Lepieiotus,  347- 

Lepidatm  temnums,  468. 

Llianas,  250.  L.  JuparanSa  (Jui,  a  frog,  para- 
nd,  sea  or  lake),  described,  99  ;  compared 
with  lakes  of  Alagoas,  422. 

Liais  on  height  of  Piedade,  3 ;  on  Sao  Francis 
co,  275 ;  on  the  gold-mines  of  Brazil,  546. 

Legs  of  Botocudo,  thinness  of,  579. 

Licuri  palm,  256,  423. 

Lignite,  471. 

Lime  manufactured  from  corals,  213. 

Limestone  at  Ypiranga,  15;  at  Cantagallo,  51 ; 
of  coral  reefs,  198 ;  of  Sao  Francisco,  279  ; 
of  Rio  das  Velhas,  281;  at  Malhada,  295 ; 
east  of  Chapada  Diamantina ;  plain  iu 
Western  Bahia,  310  ;  aridity  of,  317 ;  at 
Estancia,  380 ;  at  ParShyba  gold-mines, 
447 ;  near  Crato,  464 ;  almost  entire  absence 
of,  from  Laurentian  of  Brazil,  551. 

Linhares,  Rio  Doce  at,  97  ;  inassape'  soils,  97 ; 
situation  of,  99  ;  tertiary  beds  at,  99. 

Linckia  ornitfiopus  LUtken,  214. 

Lip,  perforation  of,  by  Botocudos,  how  per 
formed,  582 ;  ornament,  583. 

Littorina.  229. 

Lixo,  Recife  do,  202. 

Lizards,  abundance  of,  on  Abrolhos,  180. 

Lode,  Descubridora,  Parahyba,  448 ;  Luna, 
447  ;  Boa  Espera^a,  448. 

Loggerhead  turtle  ( Tlialassochelys  cauana), 
abundance  of,  at  Barra  Secca,  notes  on,  108. 

Lund,  Dr.  P.  AV.,  on  bone  caverns  of  Brazil, 
281. 


H. 

Macahg  and  Campos  Canal,  43. 

Ma<jainbamba,  beach  of,  39. 

Macambira,  407,  441. 

Maccape,  locality  for  fossil  fishes  in  Ceara,466. 

Maceio  Reef,  213 :  topography  and  geology  of 
the  vicinity,  422  ;  city  and  harbor,  425. 

Machacalis,  village  of,  167. 

niarrauchenia,  286. 

Miicuj6,  discovery  of  diamonds  at,  306. 

Madrepora,  absence  of,  from  Brazilian  polyp 
fauna,  214. 

Madrijos,  female  whales  with  young  calves, 
184. 

Mcpantlrina,  absence  of,  from  Brazilian  polyp 
fauna,  214. 

Mefstric/itien,  494. 

Magalhaes,  Dr.  Conto  de,  502. 

Magnesia,  471. 

Maquin(?,  gold-mine  of,  543. 

Maize,  79,  142. 

Malaphyr,  531. 

Malhada,  265. 

Mammals,  number  of  fossil  species  discovered 
by  Claussen  and  Lund  in  the  bone  caverns 
of  Brazil,  285  ;  remains  of  recent  species  of, 
found  occurring  with  extinct  species,  286. 

Mammalian  fauna  richer  in  the  post  tertiary 
than  now,  286 ;  of  true  South  American 
type,  287  ;  not  richer  in  genera  formerly, 
287  ;  richness  in  giant  forms,  288. 

Maniao  (Papaya),  217. 

Man,  remains  of,  in  bone  caverns,  286. 


614 


INDEX. 


Manati  ( Manatus  Americanus),  at  Victoria,  75 , 
at  Sao  Matheos,  122  ;  in  Rio  Peruhype,  224. 

Mandioca,  79,  99,  120,  123,  454,  458. 

Mandubi,  derivation  of  uame,  &c.,  409. 

Mangaba,  or  Mangabeira  (Hancornia  speciosa 
Gom.),  149,  374.  459,  405. 

Manganese,  535,  536,  545. 

Manguinhos,  tertiary  beds  at,  55. 

Mangrove  swamps,  mud  of,  55 ;  formation  of, 
220  ;  unhealthiuess  of,  240 ;  swamp  at  mouth 
of  Kio  Jequitmhouha,  239. 

Mangroves,  red  (Lagunciilaria  racemosa)  and 
white  (Avicennia  tomentosa),  122  ;  as  agents 
in  the  silting  up  of  swamps,  222 ;  social 
plants,  256. 

Manicina,  absence  of,  from  Brazilian  polyp 
fauna,  214. 

Maracassumt5,  gold-mines  of,  485. 

Maragogipe,  271. 

Marauguape,  460.' 

Maranhao,  population  of  province  and  city, 
486 ;  gold-mines,  546. 

Maroim,  species  of  fly,  noted  for  biting  just  at 
nightfall,  240 ;  city  of,  384  ;  cretaceous  of, 
384. 

Marsh,  Prof.  0.  C.,  description  of  new  croco- 
dilians,  355 ;  on  occurrence  of  inosasau- 
rians  in  Europe  and  America,  494. 

MassapcS  soils,  99, 118,  395. 

Mastodon,  remains  of,  261,286,298,324,325, 
418,  419,  471,  573. 

Mate,  Paraguayan  tea,  517. 

Matta  de  Sao  Joao,  368. 

Mattas,  379,  429. 

Mauritia  vinifera,  290. 

Mawe,  Travels  in  Brazil,  51 ;  on  gold-mines  of 
Jaragui,  511. 

McGrath,  Dr.t  437. 

Megaptere,  181. 

Megatherium,  286,  471. 

Melania  terebriformis  Morris,  348,  350  ;  M. 
Nicolayana  Ilartt,  350. 

Melaphyr,  530. 

Melastoma,  249,  291,  375  ;  M.  Hookerianus, 
408,  423. 

Me.rte.nsia  rtichotoma,  256. 

Messalia  Ortoni.  Gabb,  493. 

Mestre  Alvaro,  83. 

Meteorolite  of  Bemdego,  325. 

Meteorolites,  shower  of,  in  Ceari,  472. 

Metamorphism  no  criterion  of  age,  280 ;  signs 
of,  in  eozoic  rock  not  disappearing  toward 
the  western  part  of  plateau  of  Brazil,  500. 

Miahype,  61. 

Mica-slate,  135.  142,  148,  164,  252,  296,  298, 
328,  445,  446,' 458,  525,551. 

Mice,  occurrence  of  bones  of,  in  caverns  of 
Lagoa  Santa,  285. 

Mi&epora  aleieornis  Linn,  40,  206;  vnr.  M. 
di^itata,  206;  far.  M.  tellu/.nsa,2Q6;  var. 
M.  feneatrata  Verr.,  206;  M.  Eraziliensis 
Verr.,  195  ;  M.  Nitiiia  Verr.,  205. 

Millepores,  stinging  properties  of,  207. 

Mimosa,  249,250  408. 

Minas  da  Caxoeria,  447. 

Minas  Geraes,  a  land-locked  province,  necessi 
ty  of  roads  to  the  coast,  130. 

Minas  Novas,  cause  of  failure  of  mines,  157 ; 
geology  of  vicinity  of,  157. 

Mining  companies.  Companhia  Metallurgica 
do  Assurua,  308  ;  Tasso  Brazilian  Gold-Min 
ing  Company  (limited),  449  ;  Sao  Joao  d'El- 


Rei  Mining  Company,  536;  Rossa  Grande 
Gold-Mining  Company,  542 ;  Doin  Pedro 
North  d'El-Rei  Company,  542;  East  d'El- 
Rei  Company,  544;  Monies  Aureos  Gold- 
Mining  Company  (limited),  546. 

Mispickel,  the  principal  gold-bearer,  534,  540. 

Moisture,  existence  of  forests,  dependence  on. 
321. 

Molybdate  of  lead,  472. 

Monkeys  of  Rio  Doce,  95. 

Mouserrat,  geology  of,  334. 

Monte  Moreno,  65;  Jutuquara,  height,  &c., 
68  ;  Parcoal,  226  ;  Sauto,  325. 

Montes  Pyreneos,  height  of,  501. 

Moon,  superstitions  regarding,  among  Botocu- 
dos,  599. 

Moraine,  gigantic,  of  Amazonian  glacier,  490. 

Moraines  of  Pacatuba,  469. 

Morainic  deposits  of  Tijuca,  562. 

Morro  do  Supateiro,  48;  de  Mestre  Alvaro,  81 ; 
de  Agah,  59  ;  de  Nossa  Seuhora  da  Peuha, 
66;  da  Serra,  81,  83,  84 ;  do  Padre,  92  ;  da 
Terra  Alta,  97  ;  do  Kupan,  133;  do  Ariao, 
164 ;  de  Sao  Paulo,  266  ;  Redondo,  297  ;  do 
Caldeirao-assii,  pot-hole  on,  316;  do  Consel- 
ho,  sand-plains  of  vicinity  of,  345 ;  do  Chaves, 
geology  of,  404  ;  dos  Cabellos  Brancos,  513 ; 
Velho  gold-mine,  536  ;  mode  of  extracting 
gold,  538;  profits,  539,  540;  depth  of  mines, 
539  ;  de  .^auta  Anna,  542. 

Mouchez,  226. 

Moulding  of  drift-covered  surfaces  wholly  dif 
ferent  from  that  of  surfaces  exposed  to  the 
action  of  waves,  569. 

Mountain  ranges  badly  represented  on  maps, 
278. 

Mucury  region,  resemblance  in  topography, 
soils,  &c.,  to  the  coffee  regions  near  Rio, 
133 ;  topographical  features  due  to  moist 
climate  and  forests,  319. 

Mud  bottom  bordering  coral  reef,  209. 

Mundo  Novo  (Bahia),  mastodon  remains,  325  J 
locality  for  fossil  fishes  in  Ceari,  466. 

Muras,  custom  of  piercing  lip,  584. 

Murici  (Byrsonhna),  374. 

Musm  Harttii  Verr.,  73, 196,  229. 

Mussels,  73. 

Mutum  ( Crax),  95. 

Mygale,  180. 

Mycetes  Ursinus,  95. 

Mylodon,  286. 

Mystiqa  whale,  182. 

Mythical  reef,  belief  in  accounted  for,  189. 


N. 


Naegeli,  Dr.  II.,  6. 

Naknenuks,  679,  593. 

Natal,  454. 

Natica  pra>,lnne;a  Leymerie,  385. 

Natividade,  497- 

Navigation  by  steam  of  Sao  Francisco,  399, 

421. 

Navigation  of  the  Araguaya,  501. 
New  Red  Sandstone  of  Estancia,  379. 
Nazareth,  268. 
Neocomen,  555. 

Neritina,  348  ;  N.  pupa  Gabb,  493. 
Nests  of  sea-urchins  in  rock,  36. 
Nest  of  loggerhead  turtle,  mode  of  excavating, 

109. 


INDEX. 


615 


Xeuwicd,  Prince  Maximilian  zu.  122 ;  on 
journey  from  Ilheos  to  Bahia,  249 ;  on  coun 
try  between  Urubii  and  Faz.  da  Caxoeira, 
257.  See  Appendix. 

Nicolay,  Rev.  Mr.,  on  turba  deposits  of  Cama- 
niii,  264  ;  on  geology  of  Chapada  Uiamanti- 
na,  301 ;  geology  of  interior  of  Bakia,  301. 

Na.ggera.thia  obtusa  Carruthers,  525. 

Noruega  whale,  182. 

Nova  Almeida,  85. 

Nuggets  of  gold,  297. 

Numerals  wanting  in  language  of  Botocudos, 
604. 

0. 

Octopods,  63,  204. 

Oculina,  absence  of.  from  Brazilian  polyp  fau 
na,  214. 

Odontopteris  Ptantiana  Carruthers,  524. 

Oiteiros,  362. 

"  Olhos,"  545. 

Olivenca,  248. 

Oliveira,  Sr.,  437. 

Onca,  95. 

Oolitic  rock  at  Aracare",  396. 

Opal,  common,  327. 

Opluactis  Krebsii  Lutken,  197. 

Ophiolepis  paucispina  Mull,  and  Troschel,  197. 

Ophiomyxajlaccida  Lutken,  197. 

Op/tiontreis  reticulata  Lutken,  197,  203. 

Ophiotkrix  violacea  Miill.  and  Troschel,  197, 
203. 

Ophiura  cinerea  Lyman,  62,  197,  203. 

Opossums,  94  ;  great  abundance  of  bones  of, 
in  bone  caverns,  285. 

Opuntia,  408. 

Oreaster  gigas,  19T. 

Organic  remains,  none  in  drift,  573. 

Orgfios,  Serra  dos,  height  of,  3,  7. 

Ornament  of  Botocudo,  590. 

Orthoclase,  9,  446. 

Orton,  493. 

Os  Busies,  40. 

Of  Po??oes  (Poroes),  255. 

Ostrich,  American,  146. 

Ottoni,  Senator  Theophilo  B.,  his  project  to 
settle  the  Mucury  and  open  a  wagon-road 
from  Santa  Clara  to  Minas  Novas,  131 :  min 
ing  right  of  in  Minas  Novas  district,  162. 

Ouro  Preto,  vicinity  of  auriferous,  536. 

Ovuliim  gibbosum,  196. 

Owls,  instrumental  in  accumulating  bones  in 
caverns,  285. 

Oysters,  73,  229. 

P. 

Paca  (Ccrlogeny.t  Paca),  94. 

Pachyderms,  more  abundant  in  post  tertiary 
than  at  present,  287. 

Pacific  and  Atlantic  connected  during  the  cre 
taceous,  391. 

Palladium,  545:  in  gold  of  Gongo  Soco,  542. 

Palms  of  Bay  of  Rio,  7  ;  of  Rio  Doce  94 ; 
cocoa  ( Cocos  nuciffra),  118 ;  Nnyd,  118  ; 
Mim,  118;  Timbore,  118;  Indaia,  144; 
Carnahuba,  452. 

Palm  oil,  270. 

Palmetto  (Euterpe"), 94;  (Euterpe  erfwtoMart.), 
216. 

Palythoa,  40,  62, 192,  193. 

Pao  d'Arco  (Bignonia),  94,  459. 


Pao  de  Assucar  (Rio),  8,  9  ;  Victoria,  66  ;  Rio 
de  Sao  Francisco,  410. 

Pao  Brazil  (  Cesalpinia  echinata),  94,  228. 

Parafuso,  sand-beds  at,  360. 

Parahyba  (city),  population,  commerce,  &c. 
of,  442. 

Parahyba  do  Norte,  geology  of  gold-region  of, 
445. 

Parana,  province  of,  517. 

Paranagui,  518. 

Parcel  dos  Abrolhos,  199  ;  das  Paredes.  201. 

Passiflora,  249. 

Patagonia,  drift  of,  558. 

Paulo  Affonso,  falls  of,  414  :  compared  with 
Niagara  and  the  Salto  Grande  do  Jequi- 
tiuhonha,  418. 

Peanut  (Arackis  hypogtza),  409. 

Peat,  365,  509. 

Pebble  sheet  of  drift,  24. 

Pectinia,  74 ;  P.  Braziliensis  Edw.  and  Hahne, 
208. 

Pedra  Bonita,  32 ;  Formosa,  53 ;  Lisa,  54. 

Penedo,  geology  of  vicinity  of,  397  ;  popula 
tion,  commerce,  &c.,  398. 

Penn,  Staff  Commander,  on  the  reefs  near 
Cape  Sao  Roque,  188 ,  on  recife,  188. 

Perigot,  Dr.,  discoverer  of  the  Brazilian  coal 
fields.  520. 

Periperi,  cretaceous  rocks  at,  359. 

Pernambuco,  rivers  of,  430  ;  convenience  of, 
as  a  port,  432;  situation  of  city,  433;  har 
bor  of,  435 ;  population  of  city  and  prov 
ince,  432  ;  derivation  of  name,  432. 

Philadelphia,  131 ;  height  above  sea,  134 ; 
country  in  vicinity  of,  134 ;  richness  of  soil, 
fitness  for  colonization,  134 ;  road,  present 
state  of,  135. 

Phonolite  of  Fernando  de  Noronha,  438. 

Physiognomy  of  Botocudos,  580. 

Piassaba  (Attalea  J'unifera  Mart.),  237,  247, 
271,  336,  373. 

Pico  do  Enchadao,  169;  do  Enchadinho,  169; 
de  Itambe,  137:  d'ltabira,  535;  Piedade, 
Alto  da  Surra  da,  height  of,  3. 

Pine-apples,  431. 

Pittgoas  d'agua,  164. 

Piqui  (caryocar  Srasiliensibus),  149. 

Piranha  (Pygocentnis),  derivation  of  name, 
399  ;  description  of  habits,  399  ;  note  on,  by 
Gardner,  400  ;  voracity  of,  401,  402,  502. 

Pirrtmpeba  (fish),  403 

Piso  on  Brazilian  reef,  187. 

Pisorlus  in  cretaceous  at  Bahia,  355. 

Pissi?  on  gneiss  of  Corcovada  and  Copocabana, 
10;  on  eozoic  gneisses  of  Brazil,  548. 

Pistacte,  297,  324,  327,  485. 

Pitanga,  section  at,  368  ;  diamond  mines,  369. 

Pitangueira  (Evgenia),  19,  59. 

Plain  of  tertiary  at  Carapina,  82. 

Plains  of  sand  at  Victoria,  82;  coast,  forma- 
tior  of.  221 ;  at  mouth  of  Jequitinhonha, 
221. 

Planorbis  Monserratensis  Hartt,  351. 

Plants,  fossil,  on  Rio  Pardo, 243 ;  Abrolhos,  176 ; 
of  carbonifera  of  Rio  Grande  do  Sul,  524. 

Plant,  Nathaniel,  Esq.,  report  on  coal-fields  of 
Rio  Jaguarao.  521. 

Plataforma,  cretaceous  beds  of,  347. 

Plateau  of  Province  of  Bahia,  310  :  middle,  of 
Bahia,  313;  third  or  coast,  of  Bahia,  316; 
second,  of  Bahia,  vegetation,  climate  of,  317  ; 
of  Appodi,  451 ;  of  Brazil  in  Sao  Paulo  and 


616 


INDEX. 


Parani,  505  ;  of  Brazil,  everywhere  under 
laid  by  gneiss,  550. 
Platinum,  448 ;  occurrence  of  in  gold-mines 

of  Brazil,  542. 

Plexaurella  dickotoma  Roll,  62,  197. 
Po-assii   (Yg-apo-assii,   running  water  or  big 

swamp),  237  ;  probable  results  of  widening, 

240. 

Pocjoes,  255. 
Pohl,  496. 

Pojicha,  chief  and  tribe  of  Botocudos,  592,  594. 
Pojuea  tunnel,  371. 
Polyps,  distribution  of,  along  Brazilian  coast, 

191. 

Ponipeo,  428. 
Ponds  on  reefs,  210. 
Ponta  de  Jecii,  64  ;  do  Tubarao,  65 ;  Caixa  de 

Pregos,  267  ;  Garcia,  267. 
Pontal  at  mouth  of  Rio  Arassuahy,  163  ;  da 

Barra  do  Sao  Francisco,  dunes  at,  395 
Porcupines,  bones  of  in  caves  at  Lagda  Santa, 

285. 

Porites,  in  Bay  of  Rio,  192. 
Porites  soliila  Verrill,  203,  208. 
Porphyry,  446,  449. 
Porokum,  skull  of,  588. 
Pororoca  or  Bore,  487. 
Porto  de  Souza,  geology  of  vicinity,  90 ;  das 

Caixas,  6,  21  ;  da  Villa  Nova,  recent  deposits 

at,  18  ;  da  Pedra,  76  ;  de  Souza,  89  ;  richness 

of  soil  at,  91. 
Porto  Alegre  (KioMucury),  128;  (Kio  Grande 

do  Sul),  531. 

Porto  Seguro,  228  ;  harbor  and  reef  of,  228. 
Porto  das  Piranhas,  412. 
Post  tertiary,  573. 
Pot-holes,  occurrence  of  diamonds  in,  307  ;  of 

Lake  Plain  of  probable  glacial  origin,  315, 

562,  571. 
Prado,  225. 

Praia  Grande,  geological  section  at,  13. 
Precipices,  character  of,  near  Rio,  31. 
Prionus  cervicornis,  larvas  of,  eaten  by  Botocu 
dos,  597. 

Pristis,  species  of,  in  Rio  Doce,  91. 
Propria,  404. 
Pratnpit/ieciis,  286. 
Przewodowski,  Sir.,  272. 
Psitlium  Guiava,  47. 

Ptfris  caudala,  144,  252;  social  plant,  256. 
Plfrngorifia  (  Gorgonia)  gracilis  Verr.,  81. 
Pumice,  179,  248. 
Pyaocentrus  (fish),  403. 
Pyrites,  magnetic  iron,  gold  of,  534, 541 ;  iron, 

associated  with  gold  at  Morro  Velho  mine, 

537. 

Q. 

Quartz,  auriferous,  448  ;  reins,  448,  533. 
Quartzite,  152,  296,  298  ;  auriferous,  534. 
Quadersandstein,  298. 
Quixeramobim,  460. 
Quina,  19,  459. 
Quiricare,  Rio,  117. 

R. 

Railroads  of  Brazil,  293  ;   Cantagallo,  6,  19  ; 
Dom  Pedro  Segundo,  geology  of,  14  ;   Per-,  j 
nambuco  and  Sao  Francisco,  436;   Santos  j 
and  Sao  Paulo,  506. 


Rains  on  Lower  Sao  Francisco,  420 ;  of  Ma- 
ran  hao,  485. 

Recife,  meaning  of  word,  191,  432;  city  of, 
432  ;  do  Lixo,  202  ;  do  Leste,  211 ;  da  Pedra 
Grande,  211 ;  Itanhaein,  212  ;  dos  Itacolu- 
mis,  212, 227  ;  das  Timbebas,  212  ;  do  Porto 
Seguro,  212. 

Reconcavo,  272. 

Reefs,  Coral,  see  Coral  Reefs ;  stone,  or  con 
solidated  beaches,  of  Guarapary,  62 ;  at 
Barra  Secca,  107,  113;  Porto  Seguro,  229  ; 
Santa  Cruz,  232;  Bahia,  342;  Rio  Ver- 
melho,  344  ;  Peruarnbuco,  434  ;  Parahyba 
do  Norte,  442,  454. 

Reiuhardt,  Prof.  G.,  279;  general  conclusions 
with  reference  to  the  fossil  fauna  of  bone 
caverns,  287  ;  on  fossil  iiiau  of  Brazil,  287. 

Renilla  Dance,  192. 

Rkacolepis  buccalis,  468  ;  -R.  olfersii,  468  ;  R. 
latus,  468. 

Rhea  JJarwini,  147. 

Rhexia,  species  of,  social  plants,  256. 

Hiacho,  meaning  of  word,  123 ;  dos  Porcos, 
457 ;  do  Mundo  Novo,  457 ;  das  Ostras,  124. 

Uibeirao  Diamantino,  149  ;  d'Agoa  Nova,  149 ; 
da  Issara,  250  ;  do  Meio,  154. 

Rice,  116,  261,  409,  410,  454. 

Riedel,  281. 

Rio,  Bay  of,  6  ;  d'Agua  Limpa,  154 ;  d'Agua 
Suja,  137,  153 ;  das  Americauas,  126 ;  An- 
darahy  (Andira  bat,  ky  river),  diamond 
washings  on,  306;  Apiapitanga,  85;  Ap- 
podi,  452;  Araguaya,  501  ;  Arassuahy  (Ara- 
assu-ky  great  parrot  water,  or  Coaracy-cy 
water  of  the  sun,  Mart.),  137,  163;  gold 
in  sands  of,  163 ;  d'Areia,  that  part  of 
a  river  whose  bed  is  composed  of  sand, 
so  called  in  contrast  with  the  part  whose 
banks  and  bed  are  rocky,  126,  171,  242  ; 
da  Barra  Secca,  106  ;  Beuevente,  60  ;  Bom 


of,  521  ;  Canind6,  474  ;  Capanema  (cda 
leaf  or  wood,  panemo  sterile),  271 ;  Capi- 
baribe,  430  ;  Capivary,  137, 145 ;  Carahype, 
83 ;  Carapina,  76 ;  Caravellas,  219  ;  Caravel- 
las,  mouth  of,  223 ;  Carimatau ,  452 ;  Carun- 
haiiha  (  Caryra  to  run,  anhe  enough,  "  Flu- 
vius  sat  rapidus,"  Martius),  295  ;  do  Cas- 
tello,  gold-washings  on,  59;  da  Caxoeira, 
227  ;  Ceara-inerim,  451 ;  Chopot  i,  87 ;  Com- 
mamlatuba(  Comanrla  feijao,and  tyba  place), 
242 ;  de  Contas,  260 ;  Corrientes,  88  ;  Cotin- 
guiba  (  Cntitc  to  wash  and  iba  tree,  River  of 
the  Sapindus  or  soap  tree?),  379 ;  Cotingui- 
ba  or  Cotindiba,  381 ;  bar  of,  382  ;  Craminu- 
an,  227  ;  Crubixa,  75  ;  Cuitii,  89 ;  Curipe, 
76  :  Doce,  description  of  Basin  of,  86 ;  width 
at  Porto  de  Souza,  90  ;  luxuriance  of  forest 
in,  93  ;  freshets  of,  98  ;  productions  of,  98  ; 
Bar  of,  102, 104 ;  below  Linhares,  103 ;  Com 
pany  of,  104  ;  American  colony  on,  105 ;  salt 
trade  of,  difficulty  of  carrying  on,  104,  105 ; 
da  Fabrica,  219  ;  Fanado,  137, 145  ;  do  Frade, 
227 :  do  Fundao,  248  ;  Giboya,  250 ;  Grande 
do  Norte,  451 ;  Itanhaein,  224;  ImbiiQahi, 
364  ;  Ipojuca,  430  ;  Irapirang  (  Yra  honey 
and  piranga  red),  381 ;  Iriritiba,  60 ;  Gra- 
vatu,  137,  148;  Gualaeho,  88  ;  Guandu,  89  ; 
Guarapary,  63 ;  Guaxindiba,  122;  Gurgueia, 
474  ;  Iguassii,  44  ;  Itabapuana,  62 ;  Itacam- 


INDEX. 


617 


birussu,  136;  Itahunas,  122;  Itahype(ito 
stone,  ky  water,  pe  way,  river  among  stones), 
259;  Itamarandiba,  137;  Itapicuru,  323; 
Itapemeriin,  58;  Jacoruna  or  Jacuruna, 
(Jacit  species  of  Penelope,  una  black),  268  ; 
Jacuahy,  coal-basin  on,  530;  Jacuhy,  76; 
Jaguaribe,  458  ;  Jaguaripe  (river  of  the  On- 
5,1),  267 ;  Japaratuba,  379  ;  Jecu,  64 ;  Jequi6, 


J.1UU,     £tO±   5     *J  UUOOtJllltt,     A4t     j     UULLllllUCO,     <JUV  , 

Jucurucii,  224  ;  Juparauaa,  99  ;  Jussiape, 
259 ;  Macabii,  44 ;  Macucii,  18  ;  da  Mae 
d'Agua,  154 ;  Mauianguape,  443  ;  Mangara- 
hyba,  76 ;  Mangamhy,  77  ;  Manhuassii,  90  ; 
Mariricu,  107,223;  Meariiu  or  Meary,  bore 
of,  486 ;  do  Meio  (Medio),  77 ;  Mucury,  125 ; 
Mugiquisaba,  235 ;  Muriahe,  4,  47 ;  Mutum, 
91  ;  Pampao,  126 ;  Panca,  95  :  Para,  of  Mi- 
nas,  288  ;  Paraguassii,  269,  303  ;  Paraguay, 
valley  of,  worn  in  tertiary  sandstones,  504  ; 
Parahyba  do  Sul,  3,  45 ;  Parahyba  do  Xorte, 
441 ;  Parahybuna,  4 ;  Parana,  518 ;  Parana- 


tuuauiiu,  t  ,    riauiij  ,  j.u^,  ot<7  .    IT  iia*.  i*jauu, 

„ 3  ;  Pirahy,  3  ;  Pirahytinga,  name  given  to 
upper  part  of  the  Parahyba  do  Sul,  3  ;  Pi 
ranhas,  451 ;  das  Pirangas,  87  ;  Pirapama, 
430  ;  Pirapitinga,  4  ;  Piriqui-assu ,  85  ;  Piri- 
qui-mirim,  85;  do  Peixe,  323;  Piuma,  59; 
Pomba,  4  ;  Potengi,  452 ;  Poty,  474  ;  Poxim 
(poxim,  ugly).  241 ;  Preto,  4,  125  ;  Purus, 
494 ;  Real,  379,  380  ;  dos  Keis  Magos,  85 ; 
de  Salitre,  327;  Salgado  (Ceari),  457;  da 
Salsa,  237 ;  Santa  Maria,  65  ;  de  Sao  Fran 
cisco,  276,  geology  of,  276,  explorers  of, 
275,  rank  of,  among  rivers,  288,  courses 
described,  288 ;  Upper,  unhealthiness  of, 
292,  navigability  of,  cost  of  removing  ob 
structions  from,  292,  opening  of,  to  steam 


Antonio,  mastodon  remains  found  in  vicinity 


^uhi-grande,  88 ;  Setubal,  137  ;  country  in 
vicinity  of,  140;  Serenhacm,  430:  Serigi, 
272 ;  da  Serra,  65  ;  Setubinho,  140,  147  ; 
Sipo,  241 ;  Soledade.  137  ;  Taipe,  227  ;  Tap- 
ajos,  granite  on,  600  ;  sandstones  of,  504  ; 
TauhS,  76  ;  Tibaje,  513  ;  Tiete.  510  ;  Tocan- 
tins,  501;  Todos  os  Santos,  126;  Trahiry, 
451 ;  Una  (black  river)  of  Espirito  Santo, 
south  of  Victoria,  64 ;  west  of  Victoria,  76  ; 
of  Bahia,  246 ;  of  Pernambuco,  430  ;  Upan- 


Liais's  picture  of  the  scenery  on,  291,  Verde, 

328;  Xingu,  503. 
Rise,  gradual,  of  coast  within  recent  times, 

probably  still  in  progress,  36  ;  observation 

on,  at  Victoria,  72. 
Roads,    scarcity    of    wagon-roads    in    Minas 

Geraes,  130 ;  wagon-road  from  Sauta  Clara 

to  Philadelphia,  131. 
Rock  crystals,  531. 


Rock  salt  said  to  occur  on  Rio  Iluallaga,  329. 
Roccas,  214. 
Rosewood,  93, 102. 

Ruminants  mure   abundant  in  post-tertiary 
than  at  present  in  Brazil,  287. 


Sabar-i,  290. 

St.  John,  Mr.  0.  H.,  275,  295,  475. 

Saline  streams,  304. 

Saline  deposits  of  Valley  of  Sao  Francisco, 
328  ;  method  of  extracting  the  salt,  329. 

Salines  of  Araruama,  38 ;  of  Maijambamba,  39. 

Salt,  cost  of,  in  the  interior,  130 ;  commerce 
in,  on  Rio  Doce,  104;  of  Fazenda  Aldea, 
impurities  of,  328 ;  of  Sao  Francisco  valley, 
note  by  Mr.  Allen,  329 ;  in  CearA,  471 ; 
trade  in,  of  Mucury,  128;  of  Rio  Graude 
do  Norte,  455. 

Salter  on  fossils  of  Silurian  of  Andes,  552. 

Salto  Grande  do  Jequitinhonha  (village  and 
falls),  170 ;  do  Parana,  518. 

Saltpetre  in  bone  caves  at  Lagoa  Santa,  284 ; 
of  Rio  de  Salitre,  330. 

Samambaia,  144  ;  a  pest  in  Brazil,  growth  of, 
aided  by  fires,  256. 

Sambahiba,  374. 

Sand-beaches,  formation  of,  219. 

Sand,  blowing,  on  Sao  Francisco,  332. 

Sands  blown  over  drift  at  Bahia,  346  ;  of  Ta- 
boleiros,  age  of,  377. 

Sandstone,  tertiary,  47,  48,  55,  56,  57,  60, 100, 
101,  113,  123,  124,  150,  243,  270,  277,  301, 
305,  311,  332,  371,  379,  458,  464,  474,  475, 
484,  489,  501 ;  cretaceous,  175,  346, 347,  348, 
397,  398 ;  paleozoic,  243  ;  triassic,  379. 

Santa  Catharina,  corals  of,  192  ;  S.  Clara,  128 ; 
S  Cruz,  85  ;  S.  Euzebia,  310 ;  S.  Luzia,  452 ; 
S.  Maria,  76. 

Santo  Amaro,  272. 

Santos,  506. 

Silo  Christorao  (city),  381;  S.  Fidelis,  49;  S. 
Joao  da  Barra,  45;  S.  Joao  d'El-Kei,  536; 
S.  Joao  d'Ipanema,  515 ;  S.  Matheos,  80, 
121 ;  S.  Miguel,  167  ;  S.  Paulo  (city),  506. 
510  ;  S.  Vicente,  534. 

Sapucahy,  cretaceous  limestones  at,  383. 

Sapucaia  (Lecythis),  94. 

Saurians,  remains  of,  at  Monsenute,  347. 

Sawfish  in  Rio  Doce,  91. 

Schieber,  Mr.  George.  126, 129. 

Sc/iinus  terebinthi folia,  19,  423. 

Schists,  hornblenilic,  446. 

Schlobacli,  engineer,  on  height  of  Philadel 
phia,  134. 

School,  151,  327. 

Sciurus  (fstuans,  286. 

Scorpions,  375. 

Sea-anemones,  62. 

Sea  breeze  at  Penedo,  420. 

Sea-level,  ancient,  at  Victoria,  71. 

Sea-urchins,  nests  excavated  in  rocks  by,  38. 

Sebastiao  Leme  do  Prado,  discoverer  of  gold 
mines  of  Minas  Novas,  156. 

Sellow,  530. 

Senonien,  556. 

Sergipe  d'El-Rei,  381. 

Sergipian  group,  556. 

Seriema  (Dicholophus  cristatus),  254. 

Serpentine,  occurrence  of,  in  eozoic  limestone 
at  Pirahy,  549. 

Serra  dos  Akuore's,  84 ;  das  Almas,  254 ;  das 


618 


INDEX. 


Araras,  499 ;  de  Araripe  (Arari-ipe,  locality 
of),  278,  457,  464  ;  Arassoiava  or  Guaracjoi- 
ava,  516 ;  de  Aratanha,  glacial  phenomena 
of,  469  ;  de  Arere,  461 ;  do  Assurua,  308  ; 
da  Borborema,  440,  451 ;  do  Boquerao,  304  ; 
de  Buenos  Ayres,  291 ;  dos  Cairiris  Novos, 
451 ;  dos  Cairiris  Velhos,  428,  440 ;  do  Cal- 
deirao  da  On^a,  303 ;  de  Caytel6, 296 ;  dp  Con- 
durii,  263;  de  Curumatahy  (Ciiriinatdfish, 
499,  and  ky  water  or  river),  291 ;  dos  Dous 
Irmaos,  278,  476;  do  Espinha^o,  136,  277  ;  i 
do  Feijoal,  168  ;  do  Oado  Brabo,  327  ;  de  ! 
Garauhuns,  cotton  of,  431 ;  da  GarQa,  291 ; 
Geral.  498 ;  Grande,  456 ;  do  Grao  Mogor, 
136,  139  ;  das  Ibiturunas.  87  ;  d'ltabayana, 
379,  381 ;  d'ltacambira,  136  ;  de  Itaparica, 
419  ;  de  Itaraca  (Ita  stone,  and  aca  horned), 
247  ;  de  Itaubira  (Ita  stone,  berab  flaming), 
298,  ;  de  Jaragua,  511 ;  das  Lages,  298  ;  da 
Lapa,  331  ;  da  Lua  Chela,  168,  169 ;  near 
Macah6,  height  of,  42 ;  do  Macaco,  162 ; 
Maugabeira,  304  ;  da  Mantiqueira,  general 
description  of,  geological  structure.  &c.,  2  ; 
da  Mantiqueira,  86  ;  do  Mar,  1, 14, 505,  547  ; 
da  Mata  da  Corda,  291 ;  do  Matuca,  52  ;  do 
Mocambo,  303;  dos  Monies  Altos,  296;  do 
Morro  Queimado,  21 ;  d'Olho  d'Agua.  sand 
stone  at,  414 ;  da  Onca,  48  ;  dos  Orgaos, 
topographical  and  geological  description  of, 
15;  das  Panellas,  168 ;  do  Paranan,  499;  do 
Paraiina  (Para  river,  una  black.  Black- 
river),  291;  das  Pedras  d'Agua,  312;  das 
Pedras  Brancas,  303 ;  de  Pereira,  462  ;  da 
Piedade,  289,  535 ;  do  Pintor,  308  ;  do  Rio 
do  Peixe,  323  ;  de  Sao  Fidelia,  49  ;  de  Sao 
Joao,  41 ;  de  Sao  Romao  e  Santa  Paz,  52  ; 
da  Saude,  303  ;  do  Sincora,  299,  306 ;  Sobra- 
do,  137  ;  da  Sussuarana  (Suassii  deer,  rana 
false,  —  Suassuarana  puma,  or  Felis  con- 
color),  250:  da  Tabatinga,  473 ;  da  Teixeira, 
440,  446  ;  da  Terra  Dura,  316  ;  de  Tiuba, 
324 ;  do  tombador,  316 ;  da  Topa,  475  ;  dos 
Vertentes,  501  ;  daVigia,  168  ;  da  Villa  Vel- 
ha,  296 ;  da  Ybiapaba,  derivation  of  name, 
456  ;  structure  of,  457. 

Serrado,  147. 

Sertao,  429,  459. 

Shales,  cretaceous,  of  Monserrate,  349  ;  with 
fish  remains  near  Proprii,  404. 

Sidfrastrrra  stellata  Verr.,  62,  74,  193,  203, 
207,  214  ;  var.  conferta  Verr.,  194. 

Sienite,  324. 

Sincori,  diamond-washings  at,  307. 

Silurian  rocks  of  Brazil,  551 ;  limited  range  of 
animals  during,  552  ;  of  Bolivar  and  Peru, 
552  ;  fossils  at,  552. 

Silver  always  found  in  Brazilian  gold,  542. 

Slate,  conglomerate,  242. 

Slates  on  Rio  da  Mae  d'Agua,  154  ;  (auriferos) 
of  Minor  Novas  and  Chapada,  157  ;  decom 
position  of,  158. 

Slides  of  rocks  on  Bahia  Railroad,  373. 

Sloths,  94. 

Smilorion  neogfTMX,  286. 

Smith,  Mr.  S.  I.,  on  Brazilian  Crustacean, 203. 

Social  plants,  variety  of,  in  Brazil,  255. 

Soils  of  the  Rio  Doce  region,  fertility  of,  96- 
103 ;  thinness  of  on  Lake  I'lain  of  Bahia,  314 ; 
of  Rio  Sao  Matheos,  117,  118  ;  of  tertiary 
lands  of  Mucury,  133;  of  Urucii,  133;  of 
vicinity  of  Calhao,  152. 

Solanaceee,  250. 


Spar,  double-refracting,  525 

Sphargis  coriacea,  112. 

Sphenopteris,  525. 

Specular  iron,  472. 

Spiders  of  Abrolhos,  prey  on  lizards  and  birds, 
180 

Spix  and  Martius  on  vegetation  of  sand  plain 
near  Rio,  19  ;  on  journey  from  Malhada  to 
Cachoeira,  295  ;  on  dead  corals  in  lake  near 
Ilheos,  259 ;  on  benidego  meteorolite,  325. 

Squirrel,  ^)5. 

Staurotide,  252. 

Steamboat  lines  from  Bahia,  338. 

Stone  implements  of  Botocudos,  592;  reefs, 
see  Reefs. 

Sturgeons,  none  in  South  America,  403. 

Stratified  deposits,  absence  of,  in  connection 
with  drift,  566. 

Strire,  glacial ,  reason  for  not  finding  in  Brazil, 
57. 

Striated  surfaces,  absence  of,  in  Brazil,  562  ; 
not  reported  in  Patagonia  and  Chili. 

Structure,  want  of,  in  drift,  564. 

Stunthn  (e.  g.  in  der  7th  Stunde),  530. 

Submerged  border  of  coral  reefs  of  Lixo,  life 
of,  205. 

Subterranean  streams,  498 

Sugar,  120,  261,  272,  380,  393,  431,  441,  442  ; 
method  of  preparing  at  Muriahe,  48 ;  cane, 
99,  452,  458,  459  ;  plantations,  45,  48,  52, 
271,  452. 

Sugary  quartz,  545. 

Sulphate  of  magnesia,  330. 

Sulphide  of  antimony,  472. 

Sulphides  occurring  with  gold,  534. 

Sulphur  said  to  occur  in  the  Province  of  Rio 
Grand  do  Norte,  455. 

Sumidouro  cavern,  remains  of  man  in,  286. 

Swamps  of  Rio  Maricu,  116;  between  the 
Rios  Peruhype  and  Caravellas,  219 ;  between 
Rios  Jequitinhonha  and  Pardo,  238 :  jour 
ney  in,  239. 

Sympkyllia  Harttii,  196. 


T 


Tabatinga  clay,  363. 

Table  land  between  Sao  Francisco  and  Tocam- 
tins  basins,  277  ;  of  Sao  Paulo,  509. 

Table-topped  hills  or  Serras  of  the  Sao  Fran 
cisco  valley,  331  ;  of  Erer6,  Obydos,  Cupati, 
Almeyrim,  489,  490. 

Taboleiros,  303, 304,  312,  362,  365,  373,  464 

Talcose  slates,  auriferous,  probably  Silurian, 
551. 

Talhadao,  417. 

Tamanduatahy,  peat-bogs  near,  509 

Tapanhoacanga,  536,  559. 

Tapcra  daCima,  deposits  of  iron  ore  near,  332. 

Tapir  (  Tapirus  Americanus),  94. 

Tapuyos,  578. 

Taquara  (Bamboo),  216. 

Taquara-assu  requires  humidity  and  consid 
erable  elevation,  84  ;  social  plant,  256. 

Taquara  lisa,  141. 

Tea,  Paraguayan,  517  ;  Chinese,  culture  of,  in 
Brazil,  517. 

Teiii  lizard  (  Teius  monitor),  111. 

Tellina  Amazoniensis  Gabb. ,  493. 

Termo  do  Jardim,  457 

Terra  roxa,  514. 


INDEX. 


619 


Terrace  form  of  the  province  of  Bahia,  301. 

Tertiary,  Cantagallo  Railroad,  20 ;  between  Os 
Buzios  and  M:icah£,  41;  Barreiras  do  Siri, 
56  ;  Linhares,  99  ;  Lagoa  Juparanaa,  100  : 
Sao  Matheos,  117  ;  Itahuna,  123  :  Santa 
Clara,  129 ;  Jequitinhonha  Valley,  139  ;  be 
tween  Peruhype  and  Mucury,  215  ;  near 
Porto  Seguro,  225  :  between  Porto  Seguro 
and  Santa  Cruz,  231 ;  Rio  Pardo,  243 ;  fos 
sils  of,  reported  from  Bay  of  Bahia,  269  ; 
Reconcavo,  272 ;  vicinity  of  Camassari,  361 ; 
lands  of  Bahia,  373 ;  Alagoinhas,  375 ;  Ala- 
goas,  422  ;  Macei.),  424  ;  Pernambuco,  429  ; 
Parahyba  do  Norte,  443;  Piauhy,  474 ;  Ma- 
ranhrto,  484  ;  Amazonas,  492  ;  Pebas,  493  ; 
western  part  of  Amazonas-Paraguay  water 
shed,  503  ;  of  Brazil,  Resume,  557. 

Thalassochdys  cauana,  abundance  of,  at  Barra 
Seeca,  mode  of  depositing  eggs,  &c.,  108. 

Thoracosaitrus  Bahiensis  Marsh,  357. 

Tide  pools  on  the  reefs,  life  of,  197. 

Tutsskrift  Lutken's,  281. 

Tijuca,  peak  of,  height,  12  ;  drift  of  valley  of, 
26. 

TMandsia.  21,  251. 

Tobacco,  336,  441,  454. 

Topaz,  151,  553. 

Topography  of  gneiss  region  in  the  interior  of 
Bahia,  Sergipe",  and  Alagoas,  318 ;  of  ter 
tiary,  near  Porto  Seguro,  225 ;  of  tertiary 
near  Pojuca  tunnel,  371- 

Torgjusen,  Jacob,  202. 

Tourmaline,  135, 145. 

Tortoise,  cretaceous,  358. 

Toxoclon,  286. 

Traipii,  geology  of  vicinity,  406. 

Trancozo,  227. 

Tramroad,  steam,  of  the  Paraguassu,  270,  338. 

Trap  of  Abrolhos,  176  ;  decomposition  of.  177  ; 
hills,  range  of,  in  Rio  Grande  do  Sul,  530. 

Travelled  boulders,  570. 

Tres  Irmaos,  10. 

Triassic  sandstones  of  Estancia,  379,  554. 

Tripnemtes,  absence  of,  from  Brazilian  radi 
ate  fauna,  198. 

Trumpet  used  by  Botocudos  592. 

Turba  deposits  at  Camamu,  262. 

Turbonel/a  minweula  Gabb.,  493. 

Tucum  (Astror.aryum  tucuma),  116. 

Tupi  names  in  Brazil,  ix. 

Tupinambas,  lip  ornaments,  584. 

Turi,  gold-mines  of,  485 

Turtles  (sea),  108. 

"  Turtles,''  fossil  or  Septaria,  at  Maroim,  393. 

Turner,  Engineer,  371. 


IT. 

Uba  grass  (Gyneriiim  parvifolium'Sees),  45, 
94,  395  ;  social  plant,  256. 

Uca  una,  204. 

Ulloa,  on  the  Island  of  Fernando  de  Noronha, 
439. 

Unio,  101. 

Unio  (Anndon?)  Totittm- Sanctorum,  Hartt, 
348,  351. 

Urubii,  257;  change  in  geological  structure, 
climate,  and  vegetation  below,  on  Sao  Fran 
cisco,  asi. 

Urucu  (Bixa  OreUana  Linn.)  used  as  paint 
by  Botocudos  ;  colony  on  Mucury,  133. 


v. 


Vaccinium,  118. 

Vadelli,  301. 

Valenoa,  266. 

Valley  of  Sao  Simao,  168;  of  the  Calhao 
Arassuahy,  150. 

Valleys  of  vicinity  of  Alto  dos  Bois,  156 ; 
without  outlets,  303. 

Vanilla,  517. 

Vegetation  of  sand-plains  near  Victoria,  62, 
65 ;  of  Swamp  of  Rio  Mariricu,  116 ;  on 
the  Rio  Sao  Matheos  below  the  city,  121 ; 
of  chapada  near  Santa  Rita,  144 ;  of  Alto 
dos  Bois,  146  ;  of  Chapada  of  Minius  No 
ras,  147  ;  of  vicinity  of  CalhJo,  152  ;  of 
vicinity  of  Sucuriu ,  154  ;  of  Jequitinhonha 
less  luxuriant  than  that  of  the  Doce,  172 ; 
of  the  Abrolhos,  180  ;  of  country  between 
Mucury  and  Peruhype,  216 ;  of  sand-plain 
at  Belmonte,  237  ;  "on  Rio  Pardo,  244  ;  of 
Pardo,  245;  of  Campos,  290;  of  Serra 
da  Villa  Velha,  296:  of  interior  of  Bahia, 
317  ;  of  Campos  of  Alagoinhas,  375  ;  near 
mouth  of  Sao  Francisco,  395  ;  of  Rio  Grande 
do  Norte,  452. 

Veins  in  decomposed  rock  never  traceable  into 
drift,  565  ;  of  granite,  164  ;  (quartz),  in  Mi- 
nas  Novas  region,  157  ;  auriferous,  at  Cha 
pada,  158  ;  auriferous,  of  Parahyba,  448. 

Venus  flexuosa  in  sands  on  the  Cantagallo 
Railroad  Extension,  19. 

Verrill,  on  resemblance  between  marine  fauna 
of  West  Indies  and  Brazil,  198. 

Victoria,  harbor  of,  66,  80  ;  (Conquista),  255. 

Villa  da  Barra  do  Sao  Matheos,  122  ;  da  Barra 
do  Ttabapuana,  54  ;  Vicosa,  218  :  da  Barra 
do  Jardim,  465  ;  do  Crato,  464  ;  das  Lavras 
da  Mangabeira,  463  ;  Nova  da  Rainha,  324  ; 
Nova  near  Penedo,  397  ;  do  Rio  de  Contas, 
298;  Sao  Bernardo,  461;  da  Serra,  84;  do 
Sucuriu,  153;  Nova,  Sao  Francisco,  sand 
stones  at,  397. 

Vinhatico  (Acacia),  94,  261. 

Vii-ipara  (Paludina)  Lacen1<K  Hartt,  350; 
V.  (Pahidinn)  Williamsii  Hartt,  351. 

Vocabularies,  Botocudo,  605. 

Valuta,  203,  214. 

Von  Eschwege,  501,  515,  535,  559 

Von  Tschudi  on  Botocudo  tribes,  592 :  on  dis 
tribution  of  cocoa-palm  in  Brazil,  119  ;  on 
the  Colony  of  Santa  Leopoldina,  77. 


W. 

Ward,  Mr.  Thomas,  277,  279,  501. 

Waste  of  land  at  mouth  of  the  Amazonas,  491. 

Water,  scarcity  of,  in  interior  of  Bahia,  256. 

Wax  of  Carnahuba,  453. 

Wave  action,  contrast  between  the  rock  sur 
faces  produced  by  wave  action  and  those 
formed  by  the  glaciers,  342 ;  during  sub 
sidence,  drift  not  referable  to,  563,  567; 
during  rise  of  land,  drift  not  referable  to, 
563,  565. 

Weddel,541. 

Widmannstadtian  figures  shown  by  Bemdego 
meteorolite,  326. 

Weiss,  530. 

Wet  season,  few  animals  seen,  155. 

Whale,  flesh  of,  used  for  food,  185. 


G20 


INDEX. 


Whale  fishery  of  Brazil  and  of  the  Abrolhos, 
181 ;  duration  of  fishery,  182;  Amia^oes  or 
trying  hours,  183  ;  launches  and  boats  used 
in,  number  of  men  employed,  wages,  diffi 
culties  of  fishing,  imperfect  methods,  183  ; 
at  liahia,  185. 

Whalebone,  184. 

Wheat,  142. 

White  water  rivers,  223. 

White  ants,  hills  of,  257. 

Winds  of  campos,  254  ;  on  Sao  Francisco  be 
low  falls,  421. 

Wilson,  Mr  Hugh,  269,  338. 

Williams,  Mr.  C.  II.,  on  Indian  rock  drawings, 
326. 

Williamson,  Mr.  E.,  on  the  geology  and  gold 
mines  of  Purahyba  do  Norte,  443 


Wounds,  facility  with  which  they  heal  among 

Botocudos,  598. 
Wyman,  Prof.  Jeffries,  on  Botocudo  skull, 585. 


T. 

Yellow  fever,  337. 
Ypiranga,  limestone  at,  15. 


Z. 

Zinc,  sulphide  of,  448,  472. 
Zinebra,  172. 
Zizyphus  Joazeiro,  408. 
Zoanthus,  62, 192. 


THE    END. 


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